THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY  OF  AMERICA 


DON  GIOVANNI  BOSCO  AS  AN 
EDUCATOR 


a SDisamatton 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  CATHOLIC  SISTERS  COLLEGE  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY 
OF  AMERICA,  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

• l 


BY 

CAROLA  E.  KOPF-SEITZ,  A.  B.,  A.  M. 


dmo 
<3  m(o 


THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY  OF  AMERICA 
Washington,  D.  C. 

1926 


i 


PRESS  OF 
J.  H.  FURST  CO. 


THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY  OF  AMERICA 


DON  GIOVANNI  BOSCO  AS  AN 
EDUCATOR 


3i  SDts&ertatton 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  CATHOLIC  SISTERS  COLLEGE  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY 
OF  AMERICA,  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


BY 

CAROLA  E.  KOPF-SEITZ,  A.  B.,  A.  M. 

y 


boston  college  library 

CHESTNUT  HILL.  MASS. 


> 

THE  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY  OF  AMERICA 
Washington,  D.  C. 


1926 


3 X h 7 m> 

• 8 'IS'KL, 


217206 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  1 

PART  I.  Preparation.  The  Early  Years,  1815-1841: 

Chapter  1.  Influence  of  Margherita,  Don  Bosco’s  Mother 5 

Chapter  2.  Academic  Training 11 

Chapter  3.  Immediate  Preparation  for  Career 15 

PART  II.  Life  Work.  The  Later  Years,  1841-1888: 

Chapter  4.  The  Oratory 23 

Chapter  5.  Valdocco,  Boarding  School 33 

Chapter  6.  Associates  and  Co-Laborers 40 

Chapter  7.  Expansion  of  Foundations 45 

PART  III.  Educational  System: 

Chapter  8.  Charity,  Basic  Principle  of  System 51 

Chapter  9.  The  Preventive  Method 54 

Chapter  10.  Spiritual,  Moral  and  Educational  Aspects 61 

Chapter  11.  Don  Bosco’s  Special  Methods 68 

SURVEY  AND  CONCLUSION 71 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 74 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/dongiovanniboscoOOkopf 


INTRODUCTION 


Don  Giovanni  Bosco,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  the 
nineteenth  century  for  personality,  saintliness  of  life  and  as  founder 
of  religious  communities,  was  no  less  remarkable  as  an  educator. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  this  dissertation  to  present  him  in  this  capacity, 
not  unmindful  of  all  those  other  traits  and  characteristics  which 
have  made  him  at  once  holy  and  great.  Many  studies  have  appeared 
on  Don  Bosco  the  man,  the  saint  and  founder;  none  has  so  far 
presented  him  as  an  educator. 

The,  sources  of  this  dissertation  are,  first  of  all,  the  many  works 
of  his  biographers  who  were  his  personal  friends  and  associates. 
Their  works  breathe  the  sentiments  of  loyal  and  devoted  sons 
toward  their  father  whom  they  revere  as  a saint;  every  word  and 
every  deed,  no  matter  how  simple  and  unimportant  to  outsiders, 
were  held  by  them  worthy  to  be  reverently  transmitted  to  posterity. 
It  was  customary  with  many  of  Don  Bosco’s  fellow  workers  to 
commit  to  writing  every  thing  of  any  importance  they  saw  him 
do  or  heard  him  say,1  even  to  hunt  up  persons  who  were  connected 
with  him  in  any  way  and  gather  from  them  whatever  information 
could  be  had.  Such  notes  were  then  often  exchanged,  compared 
and  completed.  As  a result  a vast  amount  of  information  with 
remarkable  exactness  even  to  the  most  minute  details  was  obtained. 
While  this  makes  the  reading  of  Don  Bosco?s  biographies  at  times 
a tiresome  task,  on  the  other  hand,  it  provides  us  with  sources  of 
first  class  historical  value.  Another  result  is  the  similarity,  not 
to  say  identity,  of  material.  It  goes  without  saying  that  religious 
edification  and  the  promotion  of  love  for  Don  Bosco  is  their  first 
and  almost  only  aim.2  His  educational  work  is  usually  treated 
from  this  point  of  view. 

1 Cfr.  v.  g.  Lemoyne’s  words  in  his  Preface  to  his  biography  of  D.  Bosco : 
“Ben  pochi  al  mundo  furono  amati  come  D.  Bosco;  e percio  molti  dei 
suoi  figli  presero  copiose  memorie  e scrissero  diligentissime  cronache  di 
quanto  vedevano  coi  proprii  occhi  e udivano  colie  proprie  orecchie.  Noi 
stessi,  dal  1864  al  1888,  registrammo  man  mano  quanto  aecadde  di  piu 
memorabile.” 

2 Cfr.  v.  g.  G.  B.  Francesia’s  remark  in  his  Proemio,  p.  xili  to  Bonetti’s 
Cinque  Lustri  di  Storia  dell’  Oratorio  Salesiano:  “Gli  (i.  e.  Bonetti) 

1 


2 


Among  the  many  biographies  of  Don  Bosco  three  deserve  special 
mention,  viz.,  Lemoyne,  Giovanni  Battista,  Memorie  Biografiche  di 
Don  Giovanni  Bosco , S.  Benigno  Canavese,  1898  ff.;  Lemoyne, 
Giovanni  Battista,  Vita  del  Venerabile  Servo  di  Dio  Giovanni  Bosco, 
Fondatore  della  Pia  Societa  Salesiana,  delV  Istituto  delle  Figlie 
di  Maria  Ausiliatrice  e dei  Cooperatori  Salesiani,  Torino,  1914; 
Bonetti,  Giovanni,  Cinque  Lustri  di  Storia  delV  Oratorio  Salesiano 
fondato  dal  Sacerdote  D.  Giovanni  Bosco,  Torino,  1892. 

The  author  of  the  first  two,  Giovanni  Battista  Lemoyne  (1839- 
1916),  entered  Don  Bosco’s  Oratory  at  Yaldocco  1864.  In  1883 
he  was  appointed  Secretary  to  the  Superior  Chapter  and  Editor 
of  the  Bolletino  Salesiano.  From  that  time  on  3 he  was  engaged 
in  gathering  material  for  the  biography  of  Don  Bosco.  From  1898 
until  shortly  after  Lemoyne’s  death  nine  volumes  of  his  Memorie 
Biografiche  di  Don  Bosco  were  printed  covering  Don  Bosco’s  life 
up  to  1870.  For  the  last  eighteen  years  of  Don  Bosco’s  life  he 
left  the  written  material  in  readiness  for  publication.  This  work 
with  which  he  was  charged  officially  was  intended  as  a preparation 
for  Don  Bosco’s  beatification  and  is  edizione  extra- co mm er dale. 
I abstain  therefore  from  quoting  it.  In  1914  he  published  his 
Vita  mentioned  above.  About  this  work  he  says : “ Di  lui  (i.  e. 
Don  Bosco)  si  pubblicarono  molte  biografie  in  varie  lingue,  ma 
nessuna  completa  e,  tanto  meno,  autentica  ed  ufficiale.  A riempire 
siffatta  lacuna  esce  quest’  opera  in  due  volumi  ...  la  narrazione  e 
scrupolosamente  conforme  a verita.”  His  sources  were  notes  made 
by  himself  and  other  Salesians,  the  Acts  of  the  Canonical  Process 
instituted  with  the  Archbishop  of  Turin  in  preparation  for  the 
beatification  and  canonization  and,  finally,  the  autographic  Memoirs 
of  Don  Bosco,  his  notes,  his  published  works,  his  voluminous  corre- 
spondence and  “ anche  i lunghi,  frequenti  e confidenziali  colloqui, 
avuti  per  ventiquattro  anni  col  Venerabile,  dei  quali  non  lasciammo 
cader  parola.”  All  facts  mentioned  without  quotation  of  the 
source  in  the  following  study  are  based  chiefly  on  these  two  bio- 
graphies by  Lemoyne. 

rimaneva  ancora  un  desiderio,  ed  era  di  presentare,  il  meglio  que  fosse 
possibile,  quale  a noi  apparve  D.  Bosco,  cioe  mite,  amorevole,  pazientissimo, 
anche  quando  ebbe  a trovarsi  come  Daniele  tra  i leoni,  che  se  l’avrebbera 
voluto  togliere  d’innanzi.” 

3 Cfr.  the  last  sentence  of  note  1,  page  1. 


3 


The  work  of  Bonetti,  who  was  constantly  associated  with  Don 
Bosco,  first  as  his  pupil  and  later  as  his  companion,  is  in  the  main 
a collection  of  articles  on  Don  Bosco’s  work,  published  in  the 
Bolletino  Salesiano  since  1880.  The  value  of  these  articles  is  based 
especially  on  the  fact  that  they  were  written  with  Don  Bosco’s 
knowledge  and  under  his  supervision. 

Since  all  other  sources  of  information  agree  as  a rule  with 
Lemoyne  and  Bonetti,  and  as  they  do  not  enjoy  the  same  authen- 
ticity, I generally  abstain  from  quoting  them  with  the  exception 
of  those  rather  rare  instances  where  they  either  differ  from  Lemoyne 
or  Bonetti  or  mention  a fact  not  reported  by  these  two  authors. 

A still  more  important  source  for  Don  Bosco’s  life  and  work  are 
his  own  published  writings,  and  also  his  occasional  notes,  memoirs, 
and  his  correspondence.  The  books  which  he  wrote  are  numerous 
and  cover  many  different  subjects.  They  are  indeed  full  of  interest 
and  information  as  to  his  character,  his  interests  and  his  abilities. 
However,  with  the  exception  of  the  Regolamento , they  shed  rela- 
tively little  light  on  his  educational  principles  and  activities.  His 
notes,  memoirs  and  letters  are  not  yet  published;  very  small  ex- 
tracts from  them  are  found  in  Lemoyne.  Most  important  among 
them  are  his  Memorie  dell’  Oratorio  dal  1825  al  1855. 4 * * * * * Io 

4 The  Memorie,  the  manuscript  of  which  was  found  after  Don  Bosco’s 
death  among  his  papers,  were  written  at  the  instance  or  rather  the  formal 

command  of  Pope  Pius  IX  after  1867. 

About  their  aim,  character  and  arrangement  Don  Bosco  expresses  him- 
self as  follows : “ . . . . io  scrivo  pei  miei  carissimi  figli  Salesiani,  con 
proibizione  di  dare  pubblicita  a queste  cose,  sia  prima,  sia  dopo  la  mia 
morte.  A chi  dunque  potra  servire  questo  lavoro?  ServhA  di  norma  a 
superare  le  difficolta  future,  prendendo  lezioni  dal  passato;  servirk  a far 
conoscere  come  Dio  abbia  egli  stesso  guidato  ogni  cosa  in  ogni  tempo; 

servirct  ai  miei  figli  di  ameno  trattenimento,  quando  potranno  leggere  le 
cose  cui  prese  parte  il  loro  padre,  e le  leggeranno  assai  piu  volontieri, 

quando  chiamato  da  Dio  a rendere  conto  delle  mie  azione,  non  saro  pifi 
tra  loro. 

Awenendo  d’incontrare  fatti  esposti  forse  con  troppa  compiacenza  e 
forse  con  apparenza  di  vanagloria,  datemene  compatimento.  un  padre 
che  gode  parlare  delle  cose  sue  ai  suoi  figli,  i quali  godon  pure  di  sapere 
le  piccole  awenture  di  chi  li  ha  cotanto  amati,  e che  nelle  cose  piccole 
e grandi  ha  sempre  cercato  di  operare  a loro  vantaggio  spirituale  e 
temporale. 

Io  espongo  queste  memorie  ripartite  in  decadi,  ossia  in  periodi  di  dieci 


4 


In  presenting  Don  Bosco  as  an  educator,  it  will  be  our  aim  to 
do  so  objectively,  offering  criticism  favorable  or  adverse  as  the 
merits  of  his  work  demand.  Every  unbiased  student  of  Don 
Bosco’s  life  and  educational  work  will  be  captivated  by  his  per- 
sonality, the  sincerity  of  his  aims  and  intentions,  the  purity  of  his 
zeal,  the  power  of  his  indefatigable  energy  and  the  greatness  of 
his  results.  The  religious  principles  upon  which  his  educational 
activity  was  based  will  remain  forever  the  only  reliable  basis  of 
all  true  education.  It  may  be  well,  however,  to  observe  that  their 
practical  application  by  Don  Bosco,  no  matter  how  well  suited  to 
Don  Bosco’s  own  conditions,  may  have  to  be  changed  in  many  ways 
according  to  the  changing  conditions  of  times,  customs  and  races. 


anni,  perche  in  ogni  tale  spazio  di  tempo  succedette  un  notabile  e sensibile 
sviluppo  della  nostra  istituzione.”  Cfr.  Lemoyne,  Vita,  p.  41. 


PART  I 

PREPARATION.  THE  EARLY  YEARS,  1815-1841. 


CHAPTER  1 


INFLUENCE  OF  MARGHERITA,  DON  BOSCO’S 
MOTHER 

Don  Giovanni  Bosco  was  born  on  August  16,  1815,  at  Becchi 
near  Turin.  His  father,  Francesco  Bosco,  was  a man  of  sterling 
Christian  character  well  versed  in  the  teachings  of  his  faith.  His 
circumstances  were  of  an  extremely  modest  sort.  He  owned  only 
a small  cottage  and  a little  land.  As  the  proceeds  thereof  were  not 
nearly  sufficient  to  support  the  family,  he  had  to  hire  out  to  work 
on  adjacent  farms. 

About  a year  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  who  left  him  a 
nine  year  old  son  Antonio,  he  had  married  Margherita  Occhiena, 
June  6,  1812. 

Margherita  Occhiena  was  born  April  1,  1788,  at  Capriglio  near 
Chieri.  Her  parents,  Melchiorre  Occhiena  and  Domenica  Bossone, 
had  given  their  children  a good  Christian  education.  Francesco 
Bosco  found  in  Margherita  not  only  a faithful  consort,  but  also  a 
tender  and  loving  mother  for  the  son  of  his  first  marriage,  and  a 
devoted  daughter  for  his  aged  mother.  The  union  of  Francesco 
and  Margherita  was  blessed  with  two  children:  Giuseppe,  born 
April  8,  1813,  and  Giovanni,  who  was  destined  to  accomplish  such 
great  things.  Before  Giovanni  had  reached  the  age  of  two,  his 
father  died  after  a very  short  illness  on  May  11,  1817. 

Margherita  was  an  unusual  woman.  She  was  gifted  with  such 
eminent  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  that  the  formation  of  the 
future  educator  should  be  attributed  first  and  foremost  to  her. 
Her  influence  upon  Don  Bosco  was  so  great  and  her  participation 
in  his  labors  so  prominent,  that  for  a full  appreciation  of  Don 
Bosco’s  character  and  work  it  is  essential  first  to  pay  serious  atten- 
tion to  the  life  of  his  mother.  Margherita  was  a woman  of  most 
remarkable  energy.  Indefatigable  in  her  devotion  to  her  family, 
she  worked  hard  from  early  morning  until  late  into  the  night. 


6 


After  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  bore  alone  all  the  burdens 
which  formerly  they  had  shared  with  each  other.  Besides  per- 
forming her  many  duties  as  mistress  of  the  house  and  as  mother, 
she  did  the  heavy  work  of  the  field.  Thanks  to  her  unflagging 
zeal,  her  prudent  economy  and  scrupulous  care  in  little  things, 
she  succeeded,  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  in  bringing  her 
family  safely  through  the  hard  times  of  the  famine  of  1817. 

In  all  her  trouble,  she  found  strength  in  an  unshakable  trust  in 
God,  and  this  she  knew  well  how  to  instill  also  into  all  her  children 
and  especially  into  Giovanni.  Her  piety  was  genuine  and  came 
from  her  heart.  God  was  her  aim  always  and  in  everything.  Her 
prayers  could  well  be  said  to  be  uninterrupted.  Her  unselfishness 
was  really  exceptional.  Thus  she  refused  a favorable  offer  of 
remarriage,  because  she  wished  to  devote  herself  entirely  to  her 
children  and  their  education  and  to  the  care  of  the  beloved  mother 
of  her  deceased  husband  whom  she  nursed  faithfully  until  death 
took  her  away  on  February  8,  1826.  When  Giovanni,  before  enter- 
ing the  seminary,  was  deliberating  whether  or  not  he  should  become 
a Franciscan  and  her  pastor,  who  had  heard  of  this,  had  advised 
her  to  oppose  the  move  in  consideration  of  her  poverty,  she  imme- 
diately went  to  see  her  son  at  Chieri  and  said  to  him : “ I hear 
that  you  want  to  enter  a monastery.  Consider  first,  what  a high 
vocation  this  is,  and  then,  without  any  human  considerations,  do 
what  you  feel  called  to  do.  The  pastor  wants  me  to  restrain  you 
from  taking  that  step,  because  later  I might  be  in  need  of  your 
assistance.  But  I tell  you  not  to  consider  me.  The  one  important 
thing  is  that  you  save  your  soul.  Now  mind  well,  that  I want 
nothing  from  you.  I was  born  poor  and  my  wish  is  also  to  die 
poor.” 

Later  on,  in  order  to  render  possible  the  execution  of  Don  Bosco’s 
plans,  she  did  not  hesitate  to  tear  herself  away  from  her  family 
and  to  follow  him  to  Yaldocco,  in  spite  of  her  old  age,  the  remon- 
strances of  her  children  and  the  weeping  of  her  grandchildren. 
Neither  did  she  consider  the  fact  that  she  had  to  live  with  her  son 
in  two  small  rooms  in  an  ill-reputed  neighborhood  and  in  poverty 
and  need,  without  any  certain  income.  In  all  things,  she  thought 
of  herself  last.  In  spite  of  her  poverty,  she  always  found  means 
and  ways  to  stint  herself  in  something,  in  order  to  help  others. 
She  was  so  charitable  that  she  was  justly  called  “the  mother  of 


7 


the  needy  ” and  so  generous  that  she  seemed  to  be  possessed  of 
real  wealth.  Don  Bosco  loved  to  tell  a trait  of  her  unselfish  charity. 
He  had  noticed  that  his  mother  wore  a skirt  which  was  very  old 
and  patched  all  over.  He,  therefore,  gave  her  money  to  buy  herself 
a new  and  simple  dress.  But  she  reappeared  in  the  same  old  skirt. 
In  answer  to  his  questions,  Don  Bosco  learned  that  she  had  used 
the  money  to  purchase  food  and  shoes  for  poor  children.  Several 
times  thereafter  he  gave  her  money  again,  but  always  with  the  same 
result.1 

Just  as  marvelous  as  her  virtue  was  her  skill  in  the  training  of 
children.  She  proved  her  educational  talents  both  in  the  education 
of  her  own  children  and  in  the  great  assistance  that  she  gave  Don 
Bosco  later  on  after  the  founding  of  the  homes  of  Yaldocco. 

Her  foremost  means  in  education  was  religion.  As  a truly 
Christian  mother  she  aimed  above  all  else  to  implant  the  germ  of 
solid  piety  and  wholesome  fear  of  God  deeply  and  carefully  in  the 
souls  of  the  children.  In  their  tenderest  years  she  began  to  teach 
her  children  the  common  prayers,  to  instruct  them  in  the  Catechism 
and  to  take  them  to  church  on  all  Sundays  and  Holydays.  “ God 
sees  you,”  was  the  first  lesson  which  she  gave  the  children  and 
which  she  always  recalled  to  their  memory.  She  sought  to  fill 
them  with  a vivid  horror  of  sin.  “I  would  rather  see  you  dead 
than  on  evil  ways,”  2 was  one  of  her  sayings,  which  she  impressed 
so  deeply  upon  them  that  Don  Bosco,  during  his  whole  life,  fre- 
quently made  mention  of  it.  She  used  the  phenomena  of  nature 
to  bring  God  and  his  attributes  near  to  the  children  and  to  teach 
them  to  fear  and  to  love  Him.  She  loved  to  tell  the  children 
stories  from  Holy  Scripture  and  from  the  lives  of  the  Saints  and 
other  edifying  and  instructive  sources,  but  she  would  never  tell 
ghost-stories.  Being  herself  fearless  and  undaunted,  she  wanted 
her  children  to  fear  no  one  but  God.  Of  practical  applications, 
drawn  from  different  events  in  life,  her  supply  was  inexhaustible. 
“ Her  speech  was  so  natural,  so  energetic  and  rich  in  illustrations, 
proverbs  and  parables,  that  she  frequently  attracted  the  attention 
of  Don  Bosco,  who  would  hide  himself  behind  a pillar  and  listen 
with  pleasure  and  often  with  astonishment  to  the  display  of  her 

1 Lemoyne,  G.  B.,  Scene  di  Famiglia,  esposte  nella  Vita  di  Margherita 
Bosco,  Torino,  1913,  p.  152-153. 

2 Lemoyne,  Scene  di  Famiglia,  p.  72-73. 


8 


powers  of  thought  and  expression.”  3 Being  herself  always  active 
to  the  extreme,  she  would  allow  no  idleness  among  the  children. 
Recognizing  that  proper  occupation  means  practically  everything 
in  the  children’s  training,  she  very  early  gave  them  some  light 
work  suitable  to  their  age.  Thus,  she  made  Giovanni,  when  he 
\vas  hardly  four  years  old,  pick  several  bundles  of  hemp,  before 
she  allowed  him  to  go  to  his  play.  All  her  children  were  given 
little  duties  to  perform  in  the  house  and  in  the  kitchen.  In  this 
way,  she  awakened  and  strengthened  in  them  a sense  of  responsi- 
bility and  kept  them  near  herself.  She  always  supervised  and 
watched  her  children’s  conduct  attentively.  Her  supervision,  how- 
ever, was  never  austere  or  suggestive  of  suspicion,  but  always 
prudent  and  amiable.  In  order  to  make  her  children  love  her 
company,  she  never  showed  any  annoyance  over  their  noisy  merry- 
making. On  the  contrary,  she  herself  joined  them  in  their  games 
and  helped  them  to  invent  new  ones.  She  would  patiently  answer 
all  their  childish  questions  and  urge  them  to  chat  with  her  so  that 
she  might  learn  the  better  the  feelings  and  thoughts  awakening  in 
them.  Thus  she  succeeded  in  gaining  the  full  confidence  of  the 
children  who  kept  no  secret  from  her.  If  she  had  to  leave  home  for 
awhile,  she  would  afterwards  inquire  and  ask  an  account  of  what 
the  children  had  done  during  her  absence;  she  would  praise  them 
or  point  out  their  little  faults  in  the  kindest  motherly  manner. 
Thus  she  accustomed  them  to  trust  their  mother  and  to  become 
conscious  of  their  accountability  for  their  own  actions.  In  spite 
of  her  kindness,  she  possessed  a good  measure  of  firmness  so  neces- 
sary in  the  training  of  children.  She  never  resorted  to  bodily 
punishments;  never  did  she  strike  one  of  her  children,  even  a 
single  time;  and  this  not  because  of  weakness,  but  because  she 
knew  how  to  use  other  means.  Her  children  understood  this  very 
well  and  knew  that  she  indeed  would  come  to  punish  them,  if  they 
were  stubbornly  to  persist  in  their  faults. 

Don  Bosco  liked  to  tell  the  following  story  of  himself.  “ When 
I was  only  four  years  old,  my  brother  and  I,  one  day,  returned 
from  a long  walk,  almost  perishing  from  thirst.  My  mother 
brought  water  and  handed  it  first  to  Giuseppe.  This  vexed  me. 
When  my  mother  thereupon  handed  the  water  to  me,  I refused  to 

3 Lemoyne,  J.  B.,  Scene  di  Famiglia,  p.  127. 


9 


take  it.  Without  saying  a word  she  put  it  aside.  I waited  a few 
moments,  then  I said  bashfully : ‘ Mother ! ’ She  answered : 
( Well  ? ’ ‘ Please,  give  me  also  a drink ! ’ * Oh/  she  said,  6 1 
thought,  you  were  not  thirsty/  Much  ashamed  I asked  pardon. 
‘ All  right/  she  said,  and  handed  me  the  water.” 

Another  time  Giovanni  had  allowed  his  quick  temper,  to  get  the 
best  of  him.  His  mother  called  him  and  said : “ Giovanni,  do  you 
see  that  switch  ? ” pointing  to  one  of  the  corners  of  the  room. 
“ Yes,  I see  it,”  he  answered,  retreating  a few  steps.  “ Go  and 
bring  it  to  me,”  she  said.  “ What  are  you  going  to  do  with  it?  ” 
he  asked  surprised.  “ Bring  it  to  me  and  you  shall  see,”  she 
answered.  Giovanni  brought  the  switch  and  giving  it  to  her,  he 
said:  “ You  are  going  to  whip  me?”  “ And  why  shouldn’t  I?” 
she  answered  gravely,  “ If  you  play  such  bad  tricks ! ” 

In  the  physical  training  of  her  children  she  was  also  strict  and 
firm  and  accustomed  them  to  a regular  and  hardened  life.  Above 
all  she  made  them  learn  good  order  and  painstaking  cleanliness. 
She  taught  them  that  respect  for  oneself  and  others  and  ordinary 
politeness  demand  that  each  one  should  keep  himself  outwardly 
proper.  In  spite  of  all  her  poverty,  she  knew  how  to  dress  the  chil- 
dren neatly  and  even  attractively ; especially  for  church  on  Sundays 
and  Holydays.  And  in  this  she  avoided  all  vanity,  always  calling 
the  children’s  attention  to  religious  motives. 

The  children  ate  the  plainest  food  imaginable.  For  breakfast, 
they  received  a piece  of  dry  bread,  prepared  by  herself,  but  no  milk 
and  no  fruit,  although  she  had  fruit  from  her  own  trees.  She  let 
the  children  become  used  to  long  walks,  and  the  stronger  they  grew, 
the  more  did  she  encourage  them  to  use  their  strength  at  different 
kinds  of  work.  She  would  not  hesitate  to  make  them,  especially 
Giovanni,  interrupt  their  sleep  to  perform  some  work  of  charity 
as,  for  example,  calling  the  doctor  to  a sick  neighbor  or  the  like. 
The  fact  that  Don  Bosco  could  perform  such  enormous  tasks,  that 
he  could  get  along  with  so  little  and  that  his  whole  life  was  so 
plain  and  simple,  is  due,  no  doubt,  to  this  energetic  training  of  his 
mother,  who  never  made  one  concession  to  tendencies  toward  effemi- 
nacy. Just  as  she  herself  in  her  conduct  towards  her  mother-in-law 
gave  the  best  example  of  obedience,  so  did  she  demand  uncondi- 
tional obedience  also  from  her  children.  Her  beckoning  to  one  of 
them  to  bring  her  some  wood  or  water  was  sufficient  to  make  the 


10 


others  likewise  hurry  for  the  things  wanted.  As  regards  obedience, 
it  was  a principle  of  hers  to  make  the  children  do  everything  out 
of  love  of  God. 

She  taught  the  children  to  be  prudent  aud  cautious  in  judging. 
A rooster  had  once  been  stolen  from  Giovanni’s  flock  of  chickens. 
Giovanni,  who  suspected  a certain  man,  followed  him  and,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  forced  him  to  return  it.  Instead  of  praising  him 
for  his  determined  action,  Margherita  pointed  out  to  him  that  he 
had  overstepped  the  limits  of  prudence.  She  said  to  him : “ I do 
not  insist  on  my  rights,  if  I am  in  danger  thereby  to  offend  against 
charity  or  to  get  into  a quarrel  with  my  neighbors.  On  account 
of  little  things,  I would  not  start  dissension.  I might  take  certain 
preventive  measures,  but  I should  still  remember  that  on  account 
of  little  things  like  those  the  world  is  not  going  to  come  to  an  end. 
Your  intention  was  good,  and  the  matter  has  been  settled  smoothly. 
But  be  careful  not  to  mention  this  thing  to  others.  And  if  you 
should  meet  this  man  again,  make  it  appear  as  if  you  had  forgotten 
the  whole  affair.  Remember  that  one  single  enemy  is  just  one  too 
many.” 

It  is  not  astonishing  that  with  such  qualities  of  character  and 
such  an  educational  genius  Margherita  exercised  a great  influence 
over  the  children  who  later  gathered  around  Don  Bosco.  If  there 
were  some  who  resisted  correction,  Margherita  would  take  special 
pains  to  win  them  over.  Only  rarely  did  anyone  resist  her,  so 
well  did  she  know  how  to  touch  the  right  spot  and  to  back  her 
warnings  with  proofs  of  genuine  motherly  love.  The  love  and 
veneration  shown  to  Mamma  Margherita,  as  she  was  called  by 
young  and  old,  was  indeed  very  great.  Her  death,  November  25, 
1856,  meant  a great  loss  not  only  to  Don  Bosco  and  his  work,  but 
to  all  who  had  been  associated  with  her. 

Justly  does  Margherita’s  biographer  say  of  her  in  his  concluding 
words : “ The  memory  of  Margherita  Bosco,  the  true  mother  of 
the  children  of  the  poor,  will  remain  forever  not  only  in  the 
Oratory  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  but  in  all  the  houses  that  have 
so  far  been  founded  and  those  that  will  be  founded  in  the  future. 
Wherever  the  name  of  Don  Bosco  will  be  praised,  there  Margherita’s 
name  also  will  be  blessed.”  4 


4 Lemoyne,  J.  B.,  Scene  di  Famiglia,  p.  184. 


CHAPTER  2 


ACADEMIC  TRAINING 

When  Giovanni  had  completed  his  eighth  year,  Margherita 
wanted  to  send  him  to  school.  Here  at  the  very  beginning  of  Don 
Bosco’s  education,  the  greatest  difficulties  were  encountered. 
Antonio,  the  step-brother  of  Giovanni,  remonstrated  violently 
against  sending  the  latter  to  school,  because  he  feared  a diminution 
of  his  patrimony  and  a loss  of  his  brother’s  help  on  the  farm. 
Finally  he  consented  to  let  Giovanni  attend  school  during  the 
winter  months.  Not  being  admitted  to  any  of  the  nearby  schools, 
Giovanni  was  turned  over  to  a peasant,  who  had  offered  to  teach 
him  how  to  read  and  write.  In  the  following  winter  the  pastor  of 
Capriglio  consented  to  receive  him  into  his  school.  Twice  a day, 
from  November  till  April,  often  through  rain  and  storm,  the  nine 
year  old  boy  had  to  walk  the  two  and  a half  miles  from  Becchi  to 
Capriglio.  During  the  following  winter,  on  account  of  Antonio’s 
violent  opposition,  Giovanni  could  not  go  regularly  to  school ; only 
off  and  on  was  he  able  to  see  his  teacher,  to  receive  from  him  a few 
brief  instructions  and  to  get  the  loan  of  new  books.  In  the  fall 
of  1826,  Don  Calosso,  the  pastor  of  Murialdo,  attracted  by  the 
exceptional  talents  of  the  boy,  volunteered  to  teach  him.  In  the 
middle  of  October,  Giovanni  commenced  his  course  under  Don 
Calosso  with  Italian  and  at  Christmas  with  Latin  grammar.  In 
spring,  however,  he  had  to  give  all  his  time  outside  of  the  actual 
class-hours  to  farmwork  and  was  not  permitted  any  leisure  for 
home  study.  But  he  never  wavered.  In  February  1828,  Mar- 
gherita sent  him  to  the  farm  of  a certain  Moglia  in  Moncucco. 
Here  his  occupation  as  a cowherd  left  some  time  for  reading  and 
private  study.  His  employers  did  not  interfere,  since  his  books 
seemed  to  be  his  only  joy  and  his  behavior  was  exemplary.  Towards 
the  end  of  1828,  however,  a maternal  uncle  of  his,  Michele,  after 
cancelling  his  contract  with  the  Moglia  family,  sent  him  home 
again  and  endeavoured  to  obtain  instruction  for  him  from  the 
rector  of  Castelnuovo  and  another  priest  at  Buttigliera  d’Asti. 
But  unfortunately  these  men,  for  lack  of  time,  had  to  deny  his 
requests.  Thus  once  more  Giovanni  had  no  other  choice  but  to 
stay  at  home  and  help  his  brother  on  the  farm.  Margherita  now 

11 


12 


turned  again  to  Don  Calosso.  This  zealous  priest  sympathizing 
with  Giovanni's  misfortunes  had  him  come  to  his  house  every  day; 
after  some  time,  however,  on  account  of  Antonio’s  repeated  com- 
plaints, he  took  him  into  his  own  house  to  live  with  him.  Mar- 
gherita,  in  order  to  remove  all  cause  for  further  quarreling,  then 
divided  the  small  paternal  inheritance  among  the  children  in  spite 
of  Antonio’s  resistance. 

After  Don  Calosso’s  rather  sudden  death  in  November  1830, 
Margherita  succeeded  in  having  her  son  received  into  the  public 
school  at  Castelnuovo.  In  the  beginning  Giovanni  had  to  listen  to 
a good  deal  of  jesting  and  joking.  He  was  much  older  and  taller 
than  his  fellow  students.  His  talent,  however,  and  his  seriousness 
in  the  studies  and  his  success  soon  won  him  the  admiration  of 
everyone  and  the  attention  and  the  esteem  of  his  teachers.  It  was 
a severe  blow  wdien  Don  Yisano,  an  exceptionally  able  teacher  of 
his  was  transferred  to  some  other  office.  His  successor  had  an 
apparently  insuperable  prejudice  against  Giovanni  and  was  con- 
vinced that  no  one  coming  from  Becchi  would  ever  “ amount  to 
anything.”  Instead  of  helping  Giovanni  in  his  studies,  he  advised 
him  at  every  opportunity  to  go  back  to  his  pick  and  shovel. 

After  the  first  scholastic  year,  Margherita  decided  to  send 
Giovanni  to  the  public  school  in  Chieri  and  found  a suitable 
lodging  for  him  at  the  home  of  a widow,  where  he  had  to  earn 
part  of  his  board  by  working  in  the  house.  When  he  arrived  in 
Chieri,  on  November  4,  a great  disappointment  was  in  store  for 
him.  He  had  indeed  a good  deal  of  information  along  many  lines, 
but  in  consequence  of  his  irregular  attendance  at  school  his  knowl- 
edge lacked  order  and  system,  and  it  was  therefore  decided  to  place 
him  in  the  preparatory  class  of  the  college.  After  two  months, 
however,  he  was  transferred  into  the  lowest  collegiate  class  and 
after  two  more  months  he  was  admitted  by  way  of  exception  to  a 
special  examination  and  then  transferred  to  the  second  class  of  the 
college.  At  the  beginning  of  the  new  school  year  he  entered  the 
third  and,  after  another  year,  the  fourth  class  of  the  school.  His 
work  throughout  all  these  years  was  so  excellent  that  every  year 
his  tuition  and  fees  were  remitted  as  a premium.  His  success  was 
the  more  remarkable  as  his  many  occupations  outside  of  the  school 
left  him  comparatively  little  time  for  his  studies.  And  yet  he 
found  ways  and  means  of  doing  extensive  private  reading.  As 


13 


reading  and  retaining  were,  according  to  his  own  words,1  one 
and  the  same  thing  to  him,  he  soon  knew  a large  portion  of  the 
Italian  classics  by  heart.  The  works  of  Dante,  Petrarch,  Tasso 
and  others  became  so  familiar  to  him  that  even  in  his  advanced 
years  he  was  still  able  to  recite  passages  of  them  from  memory 
without  any  effort  whatever. 

Having  brilliantly  passed  his  examinations  in  August  1834,  he 
decided  to  devote  himself,  not  as  his  teachers  had  advised,  to  the 
study  of  philosophy,  but  as  his  inclination  ran,  to  that  of  rhetoric 
and  literature.  In  these  studies  he  perfected  himself  in  purity  of 
language  and  style  and  thus  prepared  for  his  later  literary  labors. 

October  30,  1835,  Giovanni  entered  the  diocesan  seminary  in 
Chieri.  It  goes  without  saying  that  during  the  whole  period  of 
his  seminary  studies  all  his  examinations  were  successful  and  his 
conduct  exemplary.  Proof  of  this  is  that  year  after  year  he  carried 
off  a premium  of  60  lire. 

During  the  vacation,  after  the  first  year  in  the  seminary,  he 
accepted  a position  as  teacher  of  elementary  Greek  in  the  Jesuit 
College  at  Montaldo.  One  of  the  priests  of  the  Society  who  was 
known  as  an  excellent  Greek  scholar,  gave  him  advanced  lessons 
during  this  time  and  made  him  translate  almost  the  entire  New 
Testament,  a few  books  of  Homer  and  some  odes  of  Pindar  and 
Anacreon.  Again  his  progress  was  so  amazing  that  his  teacher 
volunteered  to  give  him  further  help  in  his  Greek  studies  after 
his  return  to  the  seminary.  During  all  the  following  four  years 
Giovanni  regularly  sent  to  him  every  week  a Greek  composition 
which,  just  as  regularly,  was  gone  over  and  returned  with  correc- 
tions and  notes.  In  this  way  he  acquired  so  excellent  a knowledge  of 
Greek  that  according  to  his  own  testimony,  he  knew  Greek  about 
as  well  as  Latin.2  His  fondness  for  private  reading  was  remark- 
able. In  the  first  seminary  year,  his  first  year  of  philosophy,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  classics;  in  the  second  philo- 
sophical year  he  read  works  on  ecclesiastical  history  and  besides 
studied  the  history  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  and  Hebrew 
grammar.  In  that  same  year  he  began  also  the  study  of  French. 

1 “ ....  In  quel  tempo  io  non  faceva  distinzione  tra  il  leggere  e lo 
studiare.”  D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  quoted  by  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  150. 

3 “ In  questa  maniera  potei  giungere  a tradurre  il  greco  quasi  come  si 
farebbe  del  latino.”  D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  quoted  by  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  172. 

2 


14 


During  the  following  years  of  his  theological  studies  he  nevei 
neglected  his  private  studies  in  literature  and  history.  It  was, 
therefore,  quite  natural  that  he  should  become  the  center  of  the 
literary  Academy,  which  had  been  formed  by  twelve  seminarians 
and  in  which  essays  on  literary  and  historical  subjects  were  read 
and  discussed.  In  all  these  discussions  Don  Bosco  was  so  exact  and 
particular  that  he  gained  the  nickname  “ il  rabbino  della  gram- 
matical 

During  the  vacation  of  1840,  he  asked  the  Archbishop,  Mgr. 
Franzoni,  for  permission  to  study  his  fourth  year  of  theology  pri- 
vately, because  he  had  already  completed  his  twenty-fourth  year. 
The  Archbishop,  who  knew  of  the  excellence  of  Don  Bosco’s  scholar- 
ship from  the  previous  examinations,  granted  his  petition.  Within 
two  months  he  went  through  all  the  prescribed  branches  of  study 
and  was  prepared  for  his  final  examination,  which  he  passed  so 
brilliantly  that  he  was  not  only  allowed  to  enter  into  the  fifth-year 
class  but  also  was  made  a prefect.  The  end  of  his  seminary  studies 
was  thus  approaching.  On  May  15,  1841,  he  passed  the  final 
examination  with  the  mark  “ plus  quam  op  time.” 

After  his  ordination,  which  took  place  June  5,  1841,  he  declined 
several  positions  which  were  offered  to  him  and  instead  accepted 
the  invitation  of  Don  Cafasso,  vice-rector  of  a college  for  young 
ecclesiastics  in  Turin,  to  enter  his  college,  in  order  to  pursue 
further  studies  in  Moral  Theology  and  Homiletics.  Here  Don 
Bosco’s  academic  training  for  his  priestly  and  educational  career 
was  completed. 


CHAPTER  3 


IMMEDIATE  PREPARATION  FOR  CAREER 

“ When  I was  only  five  years  old,  I conceived  the  idea  of  gath- 
ering the  children  to  teach  them  the  catechism.  This  was  my 
liveliest  wish  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  this  was  the  only  thing  I 
had  to  do  on  earth.”  1 

“ Just  because  my  companions  are  bad,  I go  with  them ; because, 
when  I am  with  them,  they  are  much  better  behaved  and  don’t  use 
any  bad  words.”  2 

These  two  utterances  of  Don  Bosco’s  childhood  days  show  that 
his  vocation  of  teacher  and  educator  of  the  young  was  developing 
within  him  at  an  early  date  and  even  active  in  a manner  suited  to 
his  age.  Scarcely  had  he  learned  from  his  mother  the  primary 
truths  of  religion,  as  outlined  in  the  little  catechism,  when  he  began 
to  explain  them  to  his  companions  and  to  teach  them  the  necessary 
prayers. 

His  ideas  are  clearly  reflected  in  a dream  he  had  when  only  nine 
years  old.  He  saw  himself  among  a band  of  playing  children  of 
whom  not  a few  were  cursing  and  swearing.  When  he  heard  the 
curses  he  threw  himself  into  the  midst  of  the  players  trying  in  vain 
to  silence  them  by  his  words  and  with  his  fists.  At  this  moment 
there  appeared  to  him  a white-robed,  majestic-looking  person  order- 
ing him  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  boys  adding  this 
warning:  “ Not  with  blows,  but  by  meekness  and  love  you  must 
win  these  friends  of  yours.”  Thereupon  he  commanded  him  to  give 
the  children  an  instruction  on  the  evil  of  sin  and  the  value  of 
virtue.  When  Giovanni  much  confused  declared  that  he  was  not 
able  to  do  so,  he  was  told : “ J ust  because  this  seems  impossible 
to  you,  you  must  seek  to  make  it  possible  through  obedience  and 
the  acquisition  of  the  necessary  knowledge.”  Giovanni  asked 
whence  he  could  obtain  this  knowledge  and  by  what  means.  The 
answer  was:  “I  shall  give  you  a teacher  under  whose  guidance 
you  can  learn,  without  whom  all  learning  is  folly.”  At  this  moment 
there  appeared  a woman  in  a brilliant  garment  who  kindly  grasped 

1 D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  quoted  by  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  16. 

2 D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  quoted  by  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  16. 

15 


16 


Giovanni’s  hand  and  said : “ Now  observe  closely.”  At  this 

moment  the  children  disappeared  and  in  their  stead  he  saw  many 
different  animals.  “ Behold,  this  is  your  field  of  labor,”  continued 
the  noble  lady,  “ here  you  shall  work.  Make  yourself  humble, 
strong  and  vigorous,  and  what  you  will  see  taking  place  in  the 
animals  in  a moment,  that  you  shall  do  for  my  children.”  Imme- 
diately the  wild  beasts  turned  into  gentle  lambs  which  joyously 
gamboled  about.  With  tears  in  his  eyes  Giovanni  begged  the  lady 
to  speak  to  him  in  a way  that  he  might  understand,  because  he  did 
not  know  what  it  all  meant.  Putting  her  hand  on  Giovanni’s  head 
she  answered : “ When  the  time  comes  you  will  understand  it  all.”  3 
When  Giovanni  told  this  dream  to  the  family,  his  brothers  remarked 
that  no  doubt  he  would  become  either  a shepherd  or  a bandit;  but 
his  mother  said : “ Perhaps  he  will  be  a priest.”  4 This  interpre- 
tation of  the  dream  had  a decisive  influence  upon  Giovanni  in  this 
that  it  gave  him  the  definite  idea  of  studying  for  the  priesthood. 
But  his  concept  of  that  calling  was  not  the  priesthood  as  such; 
the  peculiar  feature  in  his  case  was  that  from  the  very  beginning 
he  wanted  to  become  a priest  in  order  to  help  the  children.  Thus 
he  explained  to  Don  Calosso  when  the  latter,  surprised  at  his 
wonderful  memory  and  clear  intellect,  asked  him  what  he  was 
going  to  be.  “ I should  like  to  be  a priest  in  order  to  help  my 
companions.  They  are  not  bad,  but  they  become  bad,  because 
nobody  cares  about  them.”  5 When  he  was  on  his  way  to  Chieri 
in  November,  1831,  to  remain  there  and  to  attend  the  school  his 
companion,  Giovanni  Philipello,  who  was  familiar  with  his  repu- 
tation for  learning,  predicted  that  he  would  become  a pastor  very 
soon.  But  Giovanni  answered : “ I do  not  want  to  become  a parish 
priest,  I want  to  study  in  order  to  devote  my  life  to  helping  the 
children.”  6 During  his  seminary  time  he  was  often  asked  what 
he  was  going  to  do  after  becoming  a priest.  Here  again  he 
answered  that  he  had  no  inclination  to  parochial  work;  he  would 
like  best  to  gather  together  poor,  forsaken  children  in  order  to 
give  them  a Christian  training  and  education. 

It  seems  that  the  priests  of  the  time  of  Don  Bosco’s  childhood 

3 D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  related  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  42-43. 

4 D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  related  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  43. 

6 Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  63.  8 Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  103. 


17 


occupied  a rather  isolated  position,  and  that  they  sought  to  influence 
the  lives  of  their  parishioners  by  creating  the  feeling  of  respect 
rather  than  that  of  love.  Giovanni  took  a different  view  of  the 
matter  and  disapproved  of  the  clergy’s  keeping  aloof  from  the 
children.  He  felt  an  impulse  to  approach  his  spiritual  leader  in 
order  to  hear  from  him  a word  of  encouragement,  and  could  not 
understand  why  a priest  should  have  no  time  for  children  and  why 
he  should  have  “ more  important  things  ” to  do.  “ But  did  the 
Saviour  lose  time  when  he  made  the  little  children  come  to  him? 
I shall  do  differently  later  on.  I shall  not  wait  till  the  children 
come  to  me,  I shall  approach  them  and  call  them  to  me.  I shall 
love  them  and  win  their  love,  I shall  give  them  kind  words  and 
good  counsels  and  do  all  I can  for  their  eternal  salvation.”  7 

The  more  Giovanni  became  conscious  of  his  vocation  of  teacher 
and  educator,  the  more  he  sought  for  means  and  ways  of  exercising 
this  vocation.  The  more  he  himself  learned,  so  much  the  more  did 
he  try  to  teach.  Wherever  he  went,  in  Becchi,  in  Moncucco,  in 
Castelnuovo,  in  Chieri,  everywhere,  Giovanni  gathered  the  children 
around  him,  teaching  them  to  pray  and  to  sing  pious  songs,  giving 
them  lessons  in  the  Catechism,  repeating  to  them  what  he  had 
heard  from  the  pulpit,  and  telling  them  edifying  and  instructive 
stories. 

Giovanni  had  an  eminent  genius  for  teaching  and  a special  gift 
of  arousing  within  his  pupils  a love  of  study.  In  Chieri,  he  was 
asked  by  the  woman  with  whom  he  boarded  to  supervise  the  school- 
work  of  her  son  who  simply  would  not  study.  Although  this  boy 
attended  the  next  higher  class  Giovanni  helped  him  to  the  extent 
that  from  then  on  his  professors  were  not  only  satisfied  with  him 
but  even  gave  him  commissions  of  honor  in  the  class.  In  Castel- 
nuovo, and  especially  in  Chieri,  Giovanni  was  requested  by  many 
families  to  give  private  tutoring  lessons  to  their  sons.  Thus  he 
was  furnished  with  an  opportunity  to  train  himself  in  teaching 
and  in  discovering  ways  and  means  to  make  studying  easier  for 
those  who  had  to  struggle  with  particular  problems  and  obstacles. 
During  the  vacations,  especially  of  his  term  at  the  seminary,  which 
he  spent  at  home  with  his  mother,  he  gathered  the  children  around 
him  to  teach  them  the  catechism,  taught  the  older  ones,  among 

7 Francesia,  J.  B.,  Short  popular  Life  of  Don  Bosco.  Translated  from 
the  Italian.  London,  1905,  p.  7-8. 


18 


them  boys  of  16  and  18  years,  to  read  and  write,  and  gave  private 
lessons  to  a number  of  boys  of  Castelnuovo  who  were  preparing  to 
enter  college.  Thus  during  the  vacation  of  1839,  he  took  the  son 
of  the  Moglia  family  who  wanted  to  become  a priest  into  his  own 
home  at  Becchi  and  taught  him  every  day.  The  vacation  following 
upon  his  first  year  at  the  seminary  he  spent  at  the  Jesuit  college 
of  Montaldo  teaching  Greek  and  acting  as  assistant  over  a certain 
division  of  boys.  Here  he  had  an  opportunity  to  acquire  a practical 
acquaintance  with  the  educational  methods  of  the  Jesuits  and  their 
preventive  system.  Moreover,  he  received  here  a clearer  insight  into 
his  own  vocation.  He  recognized  that  he  was  not  called  to  devote 
himself  to  the  sons  of  the  upper  classes  with  whom  he  here  came 
into  close  contact  for  the  first  time,  but  that  God  called  him  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  poor  and  homeless  children.  This  conviction 
was  so  strong  in  him  that,  long  after,  in  1864,  when  it  was  pro- 
posed to  him  to  start  a college  for  boys  of  noble  families,  he  objected, 
almost  violently,  saying : “ So  long  as  I live  and  so  long  as  I can 
help  it,  this  will  never  be  done ; it  would  be  our  ruin.”  8 

During  his  first  year  at  college,  the  first  sacristan  of  the  cathedral 
church  asked  him  for  private  lessons,  because  he  wanted  to  become 
a priest,  although  he  was  then  35  years  old.  In  spite  of  his  crowded 
hours,  Giovanni  took  it  upon  himself  to  prepare  the  sacristan  for 
entrance  into  the  seminary.  Every  day  he  instructed  him,  and  with 
infinite  patience  and  with  great  skill  he  advanced  him  within  two 
years  so  far  that  he  passed  the  necessary  examinations.  It  may 
safely  be  assumed  that  during  this  time  there  ripened  within  him 
the  wish  some  day  to  provide  for  those  who  in  advanced  years  would 
feel  called  to  the  priesthood  and  could  not  easily  begin  their  studies 
side  by  side  with  little  boys.  The  plans  for  the  institution  of  the 
Figli  di  Maria,  which  he  founded  later  in  1875,  may  then  have 
struck  their  first  roots.  At  all  events,  it  was  then  that  he  gathered 
his  first  experiences  for  this  particular  group  of  his  future  proteges. 

Soon  after  Giovanni  as  a boy  had  begun  teaching  catechism,  he 
realised  that  to  teach  merely  by  reasoning  was  not  sufficient  to 
make  others  better  and  to  lead  them  to  God.  He  learned  by  expe- 
rience that  he  had  to  attract  the  children  to  himself  and  to  exercise 

8 Questo  no ; non  sara  mai ; finche  vivrd  io  e per  quanto  dipendera  da 
me,  non  sara  mai.  Cio  sarebbe  la  nostra  rovina.”  Lemoyne  I,  p.  173. 


19 


a personal  influence  over  them.  His  first  means  to  that  end  were 
the  stories  which  he  told  with  so  much  skill  that  not  only  the 
children  of  the  whole  neighborhood  came  to  him,  but  the  grown-ups 
also  listened  to  him  with  pleasure.  This,  however,  did  not  satisfy 
his  zeal.  He  was  convinced  that  a poor  little  boy  like  himself 
should  have  something  more  in  order  to  attract  and  hold  the  atten- 
tion of  larger  audiences.  As  a matter  of  fact,  he  discovered  another 
means,  so  peculiar  that  he  is  probably  the  only  one  reported  in  the 
history  of  education  as  having  contrived  to  use  it. 

When  about  10  or  11  years  old,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  adults  and  children  by  different  tricks  such 
as  were  shown  by  circus  people  at  the  village  fair.  He  used,  there- 
fore, to  ask  his  mother  for  permission  to  visit  the  fairs  in  the 
neighborhood.  Attentively  he  watched  the  sleight-of-hand  artists. 
His  keen  mind  soon  saw  through  their  “ mysteries  ” and  since  he 
possessed  great  bodily  skill  and  strength  he  was  soon  able  to  imitate 
their  tricks.  He  even  took  up  tight-rope  walking  and  other  acro- 
batic feattires  and  became  so  efficient  that  he  could  make  a break- 
neck leap,  walk  on  his  hands,  and  dance  upon  a rope  like  a pro- 
fessional rope-dancer. 

On  Sundays  and  Holydays  he  gave  entertainment  in  the  court- 
yard of  the  parental  home  whither  old  and  young  came  together 
to  see  him  and  listen  to  him.  The  programs  of  these  entertain- 
ments revealed  a remarkable  psychological  sense  in  him.  The  little 
Apostle  somehow  knew  the  means  whereby  he  could  attain  the 
desired  end.  When  the  whole  audience  had  arrived,  he  would  first 
make  the  preparations  for  the  entertainment;  he  stretched  a rope 
from  one  tree  to  the  other,  spread  out  a carpet  upon  which  to 
perform  the  various  acrobatic  feats,  erected  the  platform  with  a 
table  and  so  on.  When  everything  was  ready  and  the  audience  was 
full  of  expectation  and  curiosity,  he  recited  first  a part  of  the  rosary 
and  intoned  a sacred  hymn.  Then  he  climbed  upon  the  platform 
and  with  the  words  of  introduction : <e  Now  hear  ye  the  sermon 
which  the  pastor  of  Murialdo  has  preached  this  morning ! ” he 
gave  the  whole  sermon  which  his  wonderful  memory  enabled  him 
to  repeat  word  by  word.  After  the  completion  of  the  sermon  he 
gave  his  entertainment  at  which  he  was  indefatigable  and  inex- 
haustible in  his  resourcefulness.  At  the  end  of  his  entertainment 
he  made  the  people  sing  the  litany.  There  were,  of  course,  many 


20 


who  were  not  so  well  pleased  with  this  kind  of  program;  but 
Giovanni  was  inexorable.  Anyone  who  was  unwilling  to  be  present 
at  the  praj^ers  and  the  sermon  was  not  allowed  to  stay  for  the 
entertainment,  nor  was  anyone  allowed  there  who  used  improper 
language.  His  biographer  in  this  connection  says  with  good  reason : 
“ It  is  indeed  a unique  spectacle  at  which  we  see  a ten-year-old 
boy,  a peasant  lad,  manage  to  make  an  impression  upon  and  to 
give  orders  to  children  much  older  than  himself,  to  speak  in  a 
public  meeting  with  ease  and  self  possession,  to  train  himself  in 
those  things  which  give  pleasure  to  the  people  for  the  purpose  of 
inducing  them  to  pray  and  to  listen  to  the  recitation  of  a sermon.”  9 

The  money  which  was  needed  to  procure  the  objects  necessary 
for  the  tricks  he  secured  by  his  own  efforts.  All  the  pennies  which 
he  received  he  used  for  this  purpose.  He  gathered  herbs  and  mush- 
rooms, caught  birds,  made  straw  hats,  spun  tow,  cotton,  flax  and 
silk  and  even  hunted  snakes  in  order  to  make  a little  money. 

The  older  Giovanni  grew,  the  more  he  realized  the  need  of  coming 
to  the  aid  of  the  children.  During  his  stay  as  cowherd  on  the 
Moglia  farm  near  Moncucco  he  went  regularly  to  town  to  hold 
his  meetings  which  may  be  considered  with  good  reason  as  the 
beginning  of  the  future  Oratori  Festivi.  At  his  request  the  school- 
room was  placed  at  his  disposal  for  these  meetings.  On  his  way 
to  church  in  the  morning  he  began  to  gather  the  children.  In  the 
schoolroom,  before  high  mass,  he  read  to  them  from  some  devotional 
book  and  then  marched  them  to  church.  After  mass  he  said  the 
stations  of  the  cross  with  them.  The  whole  day  he  remained  with 
them  singing,  praying  and  playing  till  the  evening  when  the  boys 
of  his  neighborhood  would  accompany  him  back  to  the  farm  of 
the  Moglias.  These  meetings  had  such  a good  effect  that  the  local 
priest  continued  them  for  many  years  after  Giovanni  had  to  give 
them  up  because  of  his  return  to  his  mother. 

When  we  see  how  much  Giovanni  stressed  the  religious  element 
in  his  meetings,  we  might  fear  that  there  was  too  much  of  it  for 
the  children.  But  Giovanni’s  piety  was  blended  with  so  cheerful 
and  happy  a temper  and  so  much  natural  wit  that  he  never  tired 
his  companions.  With  all  his  piety  Giovanni  was  a real  boy,  jolly 
and  cheerful,  who  wanted  to  see  others  in  the  same  frame  of  mind. 


Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  53. 


21 


In  order  to  cultivate  a cheerful  mood  among  his  companions  he 
founded  among  the  boys  of  Chieri  the  Societa  dell'  Allegria.  Every 
member  was  enjoined  to  make  known  any  books,  tales  or  games 
which  might  produce  cheer.  Everything  which  was  apt  to  cause 
sadness  or  was  against  the  law  of  God  was  forbidden.  All  things 
had  to  be  done  in  a jolly  spirit.  He  also  loved  to  go  with  his 
companions  on  long  walks  which  always  had  as  their  goal  some 
church.  When  he  saw  that  his  companions  were  ready  to  quarrel 
and  to  abuse  one  another  he  quickly  intervened  and  drew  their 
attention  to  himself  by  some  juggling  or  some  acrobatic  perform- 
ance. During  vacation  time  he  introduced  this  Societa  dell' 
Allegria  also  into  his  home  village.  Boys  who  conducted  themselves 
well  were  received,  while  those  who  misbehaved,  cursed  or  used  bad 
language  were  dropped  from  the  roll  of  membership. 

Even  during  his  seminary  years  he  continued  gathering  the 
children,  telling  them  stories,  procuring  them  recreation  with  songs 
and  games,  teaching  them,  and  preparing  them  for  the  reception 
of  the  sacraments.  Thus  it  was,  as  he  himself  says,  a kind  of 
Oratorium  of  children  who  loved  him  and  obeyed  him  as  if  he  were 
their  father.10 

Moreover,  during  all  the  years  of  his  preparation,  he  tried  also 
to  acquire  the  practical  arts  whenever  the  opportunity  was  at  hand. 
In  Castelnuovo  he  took  singing  lessons  and  joined  the  church  choir. 
At  the  same  time  he  learned  to  play  the  violin  and  he  practised 
upon  an  old  harpsichord  so  as  to  be  able  to  accompany  the  hymns 
on  the  organ.  In  his  spare  moments  he  took  up  also  the  tailor's 
trade,  and  he  showed  so  much  ability  that  his  master  agreed  to 
accept  his  assistance  in  compensation  for  his  board  when  his  mother 
was  unable  to  pay.  He  learned  locksmithing  in  Castelnuovo,  while 
in  Chieri  he  found  opportunity  to  learn  so  much  of  the  cabinet- 
making trade  that  he  was  able  to  manufacture  a complete  set  of 
furniture  in  a simple  design.  Of  the  shoemaker's  trade  he  learned 
enough  to  mend  and  patch  shoes.  He  even  learned  how  to  cook 
simple  meals,  to  make  sweetmeats  and  pastry  and  to  prepare  all 
sorts  of  refreshments. 

All  these  accomplishments  which  he  had  incidentally  gained 
proved  to  be  of  great  value  to  him  in  his  later  vocation.  His 

10  D.  Bosco,  Memorie,  quoted  by  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  156. 


22 


practical  experience  enabled  him  to  treat  his  pupils  always  with  a 
full  and  intimate  appreciation  of  all  their  difficulties.  It  was, 
therefore,  only  natural  that  he  immediately  gained  their  confidence. 
In  the  hard  times  of  his  first  foundations  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
help  in  preparing  the  meals  or  cutting  the  cloth  for  his  pupils’ 
clothes  or  mending  shoes  and  stockings. 

During  his  seminary  days  his  kindheartedness  had  frequently 
prompted  him  to  nurse  the  sick  seminarians.  Thus  he  gained  some 
knowledge  of  medicine,  for  he  asked  the  physicians  for  further 
information  about  the  symptoms  of  the  various  diseases  and  about 
the  different  medicines.  This  information  naturally  was  also  of 
great  benefit  to  him  in  the  care  of  so  many  poor  children  who  had 
grown  up  in  misery  and  need. 


PART  II 

LIFE  WORK.  THE  LATER  YEARS,  1841-1888. 


CHAPTER  4 


THE  ORATORY 

Don  Cafasso,  the  vice-rector  of  the  House  of  Studies  of  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi  at  Turin,  had  assumed  the  duty  of  visiting  the  prisons. 
In  order  to  offer  Don  Bosco,  whose  spiritual  director  he  was,  an 
opportunity  to  get  acquainted  with  this  branch  of  priestly  work 
he  often  made  him  accompany  him  on  these  visits.  This  new 
experience  filled  Don  Bosco  with  dread  and  horror,  especially  when 
he  met  among  those  in  prison  very  young  men  and  even  children. 
He  was  deeply  impressed  when  he  found  their  number  daily  on  the 
increase  and  learned  that  many  of  the  discharged  prisoners  returned 
as  backsliders.  With  his  usual  energy  he  approached  the  new  task 
and  devoted  every  free  moment  to  visiting  the  youthful  prisoners. 
By  his  kindness  and  gentleness  and  the  truly  paternal  interest 
which  he  displayed  towards  them,  he  soon  won  their  love  and 
complete  confidence.  He  was  fully  persuaded  that  the  reason  of 
their  misfortune  was  ignorance  of  religion  and  lack  of  education 
rather  than  real  wickedness  and  malice.  He  also  became  convinced 
that  many  of  the  backsliders  had  to  be  returned  to  prison  after 
their  discharge  chiefly  because  no  one  had  been  willing  to  receive 
them  and  to  give  them  bread  and  work.  This  conviction  brought 
to  full  maturity  Don  Bosco’s  resolution  to  devote  himself  exclus- 
ively to  the  cause  of  neglected  children.  He  conferred  with  Don 
Cafasso  who  showed  himself  in  complete  sympathy  with  his  ideas ; 
however,  neither  of  them  could  see  the  way  clear  to  carry  out  this 
resolution.  Then  Providence  came  to  his  aid  and  gave  the  first 
light  on  the  problem. 

On  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  in  1841,  Don  Bosco 
was  just  on  the  point  of  vesting  for  Holy  Mass  when  he  overheard 
a violent  altercation  at  the  door  of  the  sacristy.  Turning  around 
h(  saw  the  sacristan  strike  a boy,  because  he  had  refused  to  serve 
mass  saying  he  did  not  know  how  to  serve.  Don  Bosco  quieted  the 

23 


24 


frightened  boy  and  persuaded  him  to  stay.  Bartolomeo  Garelli — 
this  was  the  boy’s  name — was  16  years  old  and  an  orphan.  He 
had  come  from  Asti  to  Turin  to  earn  his  bread.  He  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  and  his  ignorance  of  leligion  was  pitiful.  He  had 
never  made  his  first  Holy  Communion,  he  even  did  not  know  how 
to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Asked  why  he  did  not  attend  the 
Catechism  class,  he  answered  that  he  was  ashamed  to  sit  with  the 
little  boys  all  of  whom  knew  much  more  than  he.  Don  Bosco 
promised  to  look  after  him  and  immediately  began  instructing  him. 
Then  he  suggested  that  he  should  return  the  following  Sunday  and 
bring  his  companions  with  him,  to  which  Bartolomeo  gladly  agreed. 

On  that  Sunday  there  were  eight  boys  gathered  around  Don 
Bosco,  two  of  whom  had  been  sent  by  Don  Cafasso.  The  others 
had  been  brought  by  Bartolomeo  Garelli.  The  meeting  was  held 
in  a little  room  adjoining  the  sacristy.  During  the  winter  of  1841, 
Don  Bosco  limited  his  work  to  the  older  boys  who  needed  special 
religious  teaching.  On  Christmas  day  he  was  able  to  admit  a few 
of  them  to  Holy  Communion.  From  week  to  week  the  number  of 
the  boys  increased.  In  February,  1842,  there  were  over  twenty,  in 
March,  over  thirty,  and  a short  time  after  that  there  were  fifty  who 
attended  the  meetings  regularly. 

Don  Bosco  found  that  without  singing,  good  books  and  other 
attractions  his  meetings  would  be  lifeless  and  would  not  last.  He 
therefore  arranged  to  have  alternate  religious  meetings  and  social 
entertainments.  To  these  meetings  he  gave  the  name  “ Oratorio.” 
He  thereby  wished  to  make  clear  that,  even  if  a great  part  of  the 
time  was  devoted  to  play  and  entertainment,  religion  and  its  prac- 
tice and  moral  education  were  the  ends  in  view.  After  the  first 
few  months  Don  Bosco  secured  for  these  meetings  the  cooperation 
of  older  well-trained  and  educated  boys  whom  he  had  met  at  the 
Christian  Brothers.  They  saw  after  discipline,  sang  with  the  boys, 
read  stories  to  one  group,  while  another  was  being  taught,  or  they 
reviewed  with  them  the  things  learned. 

In  1843,  more  than  80  boys  were  members  of  the  Oratory.  Don 
Bosco  was  greatly  concerned  about  a suitable  place  for  their  meet- 
ings and  particularly  for  their  recreations.  Don  Guala,  the  Direc- 
tor of  the  House  of  Studies,  who  fully  realised  the  importance  of 
Don  Bosco’s  activities  gave  permission  for  the  use  of  an  adjoining 
yard  for  the  recreation  and  of  the  Sacristy  for  the  instructions. 


25 


At  the  same  time  he  appointed  additional  ecclesiastics  for  the 
instructions  so  that  Don  Bosco  was  able  to  divide  the  boys  into 
three  classes.  On  week-day  evenings  Don  Bosco  made  the  less 
gifted  boys  come  to  him  and  with  them  he  went  over  the  questions 
and  answers  of  the  Catechism  again  and  again  till  they  finally 
knew  them  by  heart  and  understood  their  meaning.  He  writes  of 
the  success  which  crowned  his  work  in  these  early  days  as  follows : 
“ Within  a short  time  I saw  myself  surrounded  by  boys,  all  of  them 
so  docile,  willing,  and  eager  to  work  that  I could  safely  have  guar- 
anteed their  good  behavior  not  only  on  Sundays  and  Holydays  but 
also  weekdays.  One  look  would  suffice  to  send  a boy  who  had  run 
away  from  home  back  to  his  parents;  another  who  formerly  had 
been  lazy,  vagrant,  was  now  industrious  and  devoted  to  his  master ; 
one  who  had  been  discharged  from  a prison  became  a model  for 
his  companions,  and  still  others  who  formerly  were  absolutely 
ignorant  in  matters  of  faith  were  now  eager  to  learn  the  truths 
of  religion.”  1 

Don  Bosco  looked  after  the  welfare  of  the  boys,  so  far  as  his 
time  allowed,  also  on  weekdays.  He  visited  them  at  their  work- 
shops and  sought  the  acquaintance  of  their  masters.  If  a boy  had 
no  work  or  if  he  was  placed  with  a mean  master,  no  trouble  was 
too  great  for  him  until  he  found  suitable  work  for  the  lad.  In 
1844  Don  Bosco  completed  his  studies  at  the  House  of  Studies  of 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  Don  Calosso  who  had  a very  high  opinion 
of  his  work  with  the  Oratory  and  who  probably  recognised  his 
special  vocation  to  become  the  Apostle  of  the  young,  did  not  want 
to  see  him  enter  upon  parochial  work.  He  therefore  procured  for 
him  the  position  of  Director  in  the  Ospedaletto  di  Santa  Filomena 
for  sick  children.  In  this  capacity  he  had  the  additional  duty  of 
assisting  Don  Borrel,  the  spiritual  director  of  the  Rifugio,  an 
educational  institute  for  girls.  With  Don  Bosco’s  new  appointment 
the  further  continuance  of  the  Oratory  seemed  endangered.  Where 
could  he  have  the  boys  meet?  He  communicated  his  anxiety  to 
Don  Borrel,  who  fully  recognizing  the  importance  of  the  work 
begun  by  Don  Bosco,  agreed  to  let  him  have  the  boys  meet  in  his 
room  for  instruction  and  entertainment.  This  plan  was  carried 
out.  After  the  Oratory  had  been  holding  its  meetings  at  the 
Church  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  for  almost  three  years,  it  held  its 


1 Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  254. 


26 


first  meeting  at  the  Rifugio  on  the  third  Sunday  in  October. 
However,  it  was  evident  from  the  very  start  that  Don  Bosco’s  room 
was  too  small.  Another  place  had  to  be  provided  or  the  meetings 
would  have  to  be  discontinued.  Upon  the  recommendation  of 
Archbishop  Fransoni,  who  was  greatly  interested  in  this  work,  the 
Marchesa  Barolo,  who  had  founded  and  supported  the  Ospedaletto 
and  the  Rifugio,  placed  two  rooms  in  the  former  institution  at  Don 
Bosco’s  disposal.  The  entertainments  and  games  were  then  con- 
ducted on  the  street  between  the  Marchesa’s  two  institutions  be- 
cause there  was  no  other  place  available.  Thus  the  problem  was 
solved  for  the  time  being. 

On  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  1844,  the  two  rooms 
were  blessed  as  a chapel  in  honor  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales.  This 
Saint  was  chosen  as  patron  of  the  Oratory  on  account  of  his  zeal 
for  souls  and  his  great  meekness.  From  that  day  forward  the 
Oratory  was  known  as  that  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales.  Don  Bosco 
had  frequently  noticed  that  many  of  the  boys  could  neither  read 
nor  write.  Since  they  worked  during  the  day,  they  could  not  go  to 
day  schools.  Toward  the  end  of  1844,  he,  therefore,  decided  that 
he  would  teach  them  in  the  evenings  after  the  working  hours. 
His  own  room  was  turned  into  a classroom;  and  with  the  help  of 
Don  Borrel  he  taught  them  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic.  This 
was  the  humble  beginning  of  the  Salesian  evening  schools  which 
in  the  course  of  years  have  become  so  famous  as  to  be  imitated  by 
the  civil  authorities  and  introduced  throughout  Italy.2 

Don  Bosco  was  happy  in  the  thought  that  the  Oratory  had  a 
home  and  that  it  produced  good  results.  But  not  very  long  was  he 
to  rejoice.  It  was  quite  natural  that  a crowd  of  healthy  and  strong 
boys  whose  number  meanwhile  had  increased  to  300,  were  noisy  at 
their  play,  especially  since  Don  Bosco  granted  them  full  liberty  in 
this  matter.  This  boisterousness  was  by  no  means  an  indication  of 
ill  behavior;  on  the  contrary,  Don  Bosco  kept  his  children  under  a 
truly  wonderful  discipline;  a sign  of  his  hand  sufficed  to  quiet  all 
the  boys  in  the  midst  of  their  play  and  to  make  them  immediately 
gather  around  him.  And  yet  it  was  just  this  noise  which  brought 
Don  Bosco  from  one  difficulty  into  the  other.  On  its  account  the 
Marchesa  Barolo  excluded  the  boys  from  the  Rifugio.  For  the 

2 Cfr.  Bonetti,  Cinque  Lustri,  p.  101  and  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  369. 


27 


same  reason  the  Oratory  had  to  change  its  meeting  place  several 
times  from  July,  1845,  to  Easter,  1846.  From  the  Rifugio  it  changed 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Peter,  from  there  to  St.  Martin,  and  when  it 
had  to  move  from  there  in  December,  1845,  it  held  its  meetings  in 
the  open.  The  boys  gathered  in  the  morning  at  Don  Bosco’s  with 
sufficient  provisions  for  the  day.  After  Holy  Mass  and  short  in- 
struction he  marched  them  out  and  took  a long  walk  with  them, 
entertaining  them  in  the  open  with  songs  and  games  and  stories, 
finally  gathering  them  for  a class  in  religion.  However  incon- 
venient this  travelling  from  place  to  place,  it  had  the  one  advantage 
that  it  made  Don  Bosco’ s work  better  known  and  in  consequence 
the  number  of  boys  that  came  to  him  was  steadily  on  the  increase. 

Soon  other  obstacles  blocked  his  path.  The  pastors  of  Turin 
complained  that  Don  Bosco  was  alienating  the  boys  from  their 
parishes.  They  were,  however,  soon  placated  when  Don  Bosco  proved 
to  them  that  most  of  his  boys  had  moved  in  from  the  country,  were 
without  a permanent  home  and,  therefore,  did  not  properly  belong 
to  any  parish  in  Turin. 

More  important  was  the  difficulty  raised  by  the  Marchese  di 
Cavour,  the  prefect  of  Turin.  Cavour  declared  the  meetings  dan- 
gerous and  a disturbance  to  order  and  public  peace,  and  he  ordered 
Don  Bosco  to  dissolve  the  Oratory.  Thanks  to  Don  Bosco’s  great 
prudence  and  his  firm  and  manly  attitude  the  execution  of  the 
order  was  postponed.  When,  later  on,  the  order  was  to  be  carried 
out,  the  king  himself  intervened  in  favor  of  Don  Bosco.  Cavour 
for  some  time  on  every  Sunday  sent  several  policemen  to  the  Ora- 
tory, but  these  officers  received  the  best  impressions  and  enjoyed 
attending  the  entertainments  and  instructions.  Finally  Cavour 
was  convinced  of  the  harmless  nature  of  the  meetings  and  even 
became  a patron  and  a benefactor  of  the  Oratory. 

When  in  spite  of  all  these  difficulties  and  the  almost  hopeless 
condition  of  things  Don  Bosco  would  not  give  up  his  plans — the 
erection  of  churches  and  orphanages  and  workshops  — it  was 
thought  that  he  suffered  from  a derangement  of  the  mind.  Some 
of  his  friends  tried  by  a well  meant  ruse  to  bring  him  into  an 
asylum.  But  through  his 'sense  of  humor  Don  Bosco  knew  how  to 
turn  the  tables  upon  his  friends  and  to  save  himself  from  the 
danger.3 


3 Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  325-26. 


28 


A new  blow  fell  upon  him  when  he  received  notice  to  vacate  the 
meadow  which  he  had  rented  in  the  spring  of  1846.  The  owner 
complained  that  the  boys,  numbering  now  four  hundred,  were 
trampling  the  grass  in  their  play.  Don  Bosco  tried  in  vain  to  find 
another  place.  The  evening  of  the  last  Sunday  on  which  he  and 
his  boys  had  the  use  of  the  meadow  had  arrived,  and  he  did  not 
know  where  he  should  ask  them  to  meet  on  the  following  Sunday, 
which  was  Easter.  Then  suddenly  he  received  help.  A barn  or 
shed  was  offered  to  him  for  sale  in  Yaldocco.  Gladly  he  set  out 
to  examine  it.  The  appearance  of  the  building  was  indeed  not 
very  encouraging:  a shed  hardly  three  feet  high  on  one  side  and 
on  the  other  so  low  that  Don  Bosco  had  to  stoop  in  order  not  to 
bump  his  head,  the  bare  earth  for  a floor.  When  the  owner  de- 
clared himself  willing  to  dig  out  the  floor  deeper  to  make  more 
room  and  then  to  put  in  a wooden  floor  Don  Bosco  without  further 
hesitation  closed  the  contract  and  bought  also  an  adjoining  strip  of 
land  for  a playground,  the  whole  at  the  cost  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  lire.  The  archbishop  fortunately  gave  his  immediate  con- 
sent to  the  transformation  of  the  barn  into  a chapel.  Thus  the 
Oratory  had  a definite  domicile'.  The  crisis  had  been  passed. 

Being  now  upon  his  own  property  and  under  his  own  roof  Don 
Bosco  could  direct  his  work  into  its  regular  channels.  Early  in 
the  morning  on  Sundays  and  Holvdays  the  boys  came  to  the  Ora- 
tory which  soon  after  was  enlarged  through  the  transformation  of 
a wagon  shed  into  a schoolroom  and  a sacristy.  In  the  morning 
immediately  after  the  boys  arrived  Don  Bosco  began  with  hearing 
their  confession.  They  were  so  eager  to  receive  the  sacraments  that 
it  was  usually  9 o’clock  before  he  had  finished  with  them.  After 
mass  he  always  gave  a short  sermon,  usually  an  explanation  of  the 
gospel.  To  this  he  added  at  least  during  the  first  twenty  years  of 
his  labors,  the  narration  of  a bible  story  or  some  episode  in  Church- 
history.  After  this  there  was  a period  of  recreation,  then  followed 
an  instruction  and  singing  until  noon.  When  the  boys  had  par- 
taken of  their  scanty  provisions,  Don  Bosco  distributed  the  athletic 
equipment  and  the  playthings.  Now  all  could  bustle  about  the 
playground  to  their  heart’s  desire.  At  2.30  o’clock  catechism  class 
began  in  different  divisions,  then  followed  the  Rosary  and  the 
singing  of  Vespers,  and  to  this  was  added  a story  from  the  Life 
of  the  Saints  with  a practical  application.  The  singing  of  the 


29 


Litany  and  Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  ended  the  reli- 
gious part  of  the  meeting.  The  time  remaining  was  free;  each 
one  could  do  what  he  liked.  Some  played ; others,  inclined  to  sing- 
ing and  music,  held  their  rehearsals;  again  others,  who  had  not 
yet  made  their  first  Communion,  received  preparatory  instructions, 
some  illiterates  practised  reading  and  writing  so  as  to  catch  up  with 
their  companions. 

Thus  the  day  was  full  and  busy  with  religious  exercises,  instruc- 
tions and  play;  but  Don  Bosco  knew  how  to  arrange  every  thing 
so  attractively  that  there  was  no  sign  of  weariness.  When  the  hour 
had  come  for  the  return  home  the  boys  found  it  hard  to  tear  them- 
selves away  from  the  Oratory.  In  order  to  cut  short  the  leave- 
taking  and  make  the  boys  go  home  Don  Bosco  most  of  the  time  had 
to  walk  a distance  with  them. 

The  number  of  the  boys  grew  rapidly.  Soon  after  his  removal 
to  Yaldocco  nearly  seven  hundred  boys  took  part  in  the  exercises 
of  the  oratory.  As  the  number  of  the  boys  increased  the  work  for 
Don  Bosco  grew  apace.  Frequently  after  these  meetings  he  was 
completely  exhausted.  Overburdened  also  with  work  during  the 
week  his  bodily  strength  could  not  bear  these  excessive  labors.  In 
July,  1846,  a serious  illness  brought  him  near  to  death’s  door.  On 
this  occasion  the  love  of  the  boys  was  shown  in  a most  touching 
manner.  Voluntarily  they  made  great  sacrifices,  and  they  vowed 
many  things  in  their  youthful  zeal  in  order  to  obtain  from  God  a 
cure  for  their  father.  Their  prayers  were  answered.  In  August 
Don  Bosco  was  so  far  restored  that  he  could  go  to  Becchi  to  re- 
cuperate. 

At  this  time  Don  Bosco  lost  his  position  and  also  the  living 
quarters  which  he  had  occupied  in  the  house  of  the  Marchesa  di 
Barolo.  She  had  given  him  the  choice  either  to  give  up  the  posi- 
tion in  her  institutions  or  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  boys.  Don 
Bosco  did  not  find  it  hard  to  choose;  without  any  hesitancy  he 
decided  to  accept  the  former  alternative,  and  to  take  up  his  abode 
at  Yaldocco  where  he  could  devote  himself  entirely  to  the  Oratory. 
He  had  some  time  before  rented  three  rooms  in  a house  adjoining 
the  Oratory.  In  this  house  he  intended  to  live  after  his  return 
from  Becchi.  There  was,  however,  a great  difficulty.  Yaldocco 
was  a very  notorious  suburb  where  there  was  much  vice  and  where 
there  were  few  signs  of  practical  Christianity.  He,  therefore, 
3 


30 


could  not  think  of  taking  in  a strange  housekeeper.  At  this  point, 
it  was  his  mother  who  solved  the  difficulty  generously  acceding  to 
his  request  to  accompany  him  to  Yaldocco. 

In  November,  1846,  Don  Bosco  with  his  mother  moved  to  Yal- 
docco, poor  and  without  any  definite  income,  trusting  only  in  Di- 
vine Providence  and  in  his  vocation  to  work  for  destitute  youth. 
In  order  to  be  able  to  buy  the  most  necessary  furniture  for  the 
dwelling  he  sold  the  little  piece  of  vineyard  which  had  been  his 
inheritance.  On  December  1,  1846,  he  succeeded  in  renting  the 
whole  property  where  he  lived,  i.  e.  besides  the  barn,  the  remaining 
rooms  of  the  house,  a hay  loft  and  an  adjoining  piece  of  ground. 
The  rooms  in  the  house  he  occupied  as  fast  as  the  tenants  moved 
out.  He  then  began  to  work  without  rest  on  the  improvement 
of  his  plant.  In  order  to  promote  order  and  to  bring  about  unity 
of  spirit,  of  discipline  and  administration,  he  composed  a little  book 
of  rules  which  he  divided  into  three  parts.  In  the  first,  he  treated 
of  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  Oratory,  of  tfie  different  offices  and 
of  rules  concerning  them;  in  the  second  part,  he  gave  rules  con- 
cerning the  religious  exercises  and  in  the  third  part,  he  treated  of 
the  Sunday  and  evening  schools  and  added  a few  general  and  useful 
counsels.  The  boys  of  the  well-to-do  families  who  assisted  him  as 
catechists  and  in  several  other  capacities  were  brought  together 
on  every  Thursday  for  a short  conference,  at  which  he  explained 
the  separate  points  of  the  rule  book,  listened  to  their  observation 
and  difficulties,  and  gave  instructions  and  encouragement  for  each 
particular  office. 

The  Sunday  and  evening  schools  had  since  the  removal  from  the 
Bifugio  been  made  almost  impossible  because  of  the  frequent 
changes  of  headquarters  and  the  nomadic  life  of  the  Oratory.  Only 
during  a short  time  had  it  been  possible  for  Don  Bosco  to  revive 
them  in  some  measure.  From  now  on  he  paid  special  attention 
to  these  schools.  Above  all  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  look 
around  for  helpers  in  the  school,  for  the  priests  who  assisted  him  on 
Sundays  could  not  devote  their  time  to  this  work  regularly  on 
weekdays.  Since  Don  Bosco  was  unable  to  obtain  trained  teachers, 
he  decided  to  train  them  himself.  Among  the  boys  of  the  Oratory 
were  a few  especially  gifted  ones  who  showed  a desire  for  higher 
education  and  who  cherished  the  wish  to  win  for  themselves  a 
better  position  in  life.  To  these  boys  Don  Bosco  made  the  offer 


31 


that  he  would  teach  them  Italian,  Latin,  French  and  arithmetic,  if 
they  on  their  part  would  teach  their  companions  in  the  Sunday 
and  evening  schools.  Don  Bosco  set  to  work  immediately  and  soon 
he  had  eight  or  ten  teachers  who  were  sufficiently  well  trained  for 
his  school.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  division  for  advanced 
students  which  in  later  times  produced  many  priests,  teachers,  and 
helpers  for  the  Salesian  institutions,  and,  moreover,  spread  the 
spirit  of  Don  Bosco  into  wide  circles  of  society  through  the  students 
who  took  up  worldly  professions. 

He  also  increased  the  number  of  the  courses.  Besides  reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic,  there  were  classes  in  biblical  and  national 
history,  geography  and  drawing.  A special  class  was  arranged  for 
calculating  according  to  the  metric  system  which  was  about  to  be 
officially  introduced  into  Italy.  He  saw  to  it  that  special  care  was 
given  to  the  classes  in  music  and  singing.4  It  was  the  first  time 
that  music  was  ever  taught  publicly  in  this  manner  and  that  sing- 
ing lessons  were  given  in  different  classes  simultaneously.  This 
method  produced  a sort  of  sensation ; 5 not  only  did  the  curious 
come  to  inspect  the  classes,  but  trained  music  teachers  were  induced 
to  attend  for  several  weeks,  sometimes  every  night,  in  order  to  take 
part  in  the  lessons.  The  municipal  authorities  were  likewise  inter- 
ested ; they  voted  Don  Bosco  a premium  of  1000  lire  in  recognition 
of  his  zeal  in  fostering  the  study  of  music.  This  school  of  music 
produced  in  time  able  musicians  and  organists,  and  many  schools 
were  later  modeled  after  it.6 

As  Don  Bosco  had  no  suitable  text  books  for  his  schools,  in  the 
course  of  time  he  himself  published  a series  of  them;  as,  for  ex- 
ample, a Bible  History,  a Church  History  and  an  Introduction  to 
the  Decimal  System. 

After  several  months  of  regular  schooling  Don  Bosco  arranged 
for  an  examination  in  Catechism,  Bible  History  and  Biblical  Geo- 
graphy at  which  higher  ecclesiastics  and  professors  of  Turin  were 
present.  These  examinations  turned  out  very  well.  The  Director 
of  the  Society  “ La  Mendicita  Istruita,”  who  evinced  great  admira- 
tion for  the  evening  schools,  assigned  1000  lire  to  Don  Bosco  and 
in  the  following  year  he  introduced  the  same  method  into  his 

4 Don  Bosco,  Memorie,  quoted  by  Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  369. 

6 Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  369. 

6 Lemoyne,  Vita  I,  p.  370. 


32 


school.  The  municipal  council  of  Turin  sent  a committee  of  civi- 
lians to  Don  Bosco’s  schools  to  conduct  personally  an  examination 
and  thus  to  find  out  whether  the  reports  of  their  phenomenal  show- 
ing were  not  exaggerated.  The  committee  was  so  well  satisfied  with 
the  outcome  of  the  investigation  that  it  procured  for  Don  Bosco 
an  annual  municipal  allowance  of  three  hundred  lire,  which  was 
paid  regularly  till  1878.  Not  long  after  this,  the  municipal  authori- 
ties arranged  evening  schools  which  were  modeled  after  those  of 
Don  Bosco,  and  which  were  soon  introduced  in  other  cities  of 
Piedmont  and  of  Italy  to  the  greatest  benefit  of  the  poor  popula- 
tion. Thus  it  may  be  claimed  that  Don  Bosco  was  the  real  founder 
of  the  evening  schools  of  Italy. 

In  order  to  elevate  the  religious  life  of  the  boys  of  the  Oratory, 
he  founded  on  April  12,  1847  the  Aloysius  Fraternity,  and  he  wrote 
for  it  a few  rules  which  prescribe  bimonthly  Communion,  avoiding 
of  bad  companionship,  mutual  exhortation  to  piety,  a strict  sense 
of  duty,  obedience  towards  parents  and  superiors,  charity  towards 
the  neighbor  and  especially  toward  sick  companions.  On  the 
Feast  of  St.  Aloysius  he  arranged  for  a grand  festival;  he  com- 
bined the  religious  celebration,  at  which  the  Archbishop  presided, 
with  a secular  celebration  at  which  declamations,  music,  singing 
and  a theatrical  play  followed  one  upon  the  other. 

A prayer  book  which  he  wrote  especially  for  the  young  and  which 
he  adapted  to  their  needs  was  not  only  used  by  the  boys  of  the 
Oratory,  but  introduced  into  many  educational  institutions,  work- 
shops and  families  and  went  through  three  editions  of  altogether 
20,000  copies  during  the  first  year  of  its  publication. 

By  this  time  the  Oratorio  had  in  all  essential  features  assumed 
a definite  form.  The  stage  of  experimenting  was  past.  All  further 
development  appears  from  now  on  merely  as  an  extension  or,  at 
most,  as  an  occasional  modification  on  account  of  particular  con- 
ditions. 


CHAPTER  5 


VALDOCCO— BOARDING  SCHOOL 

After  Don  Bosco  had  secured  a permanent  place  for  the  Oratory, 
he  sought  to  advance  a step  further  in  his  work.  Many  of  the  boys 
were  living  in  houses  which  were  under  suspicion  and  in  some  cases 
even  known  to  be  bad.  Moreover,  when  the  boys  suddenly  lost 
their  employment,  they  were  often  without  any  shelter  at  all.  Don 
Bosco  found  himself  compelled  by  this  crying  need  to  offer  his 
boys  a home.  For  cases  of  pressing  need  of  shelter  he  had  even 
at  an  earlier  time  provided  the  small  hay  loft  with  straw,  a few 
sacks  and  some  blankets.  Once,  when  he  had  out  of  pity  given 
permission  to  some  strange  lads  to  sleep  there  for  the  night,  they 
had  stolen  all  the  sacks  and  blankets,  and  he  saw  that  he  would 
have  to  make  different  arrangements.  As  he  was  without  any 
means  and  as  he  hesitated  on  this  account  to  carry  out  his  ideas, 
Providence  led  him  on  to  take  up  the  task  later.  Very  late  one 
rainy  evening  in  May,  1847,  there  came  to  the  door  a strange  boy, 
drenched  to  the  skin,  who  asked  for  food  and  shelter.  He  had  lost 
his  parents  and  was  on  his  way  to  Turin  to  earn  his  living  there. 
Don  Bosco’s  mother  revived  his  strength  with  a plate  of  hot  soup, 
his  clothes  were  dried,  a straw-mattress  was  placed  for  him  in  the 
kitchen.  This  was  the  beginning  of  Don  Bosco’s  boarding  house. 
A few  days  later  Don  Bosco  himself  brought  home  an  orphan  boy 
whose  mother,  a widow,  had  just  been  buried.  Soon  others  came, 
and  finally  Don  Bosco  harbored  seven  boys  in  his  limited  quarters. 
He  would  gladly  have  bought  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  but  the 
proprietor  demanded  too  high  a price.  Thus  Don  Bosco  had  to 
be  satisfied  with  renting  the  rooms  one  after  the  other  as  they  were 
vacated.  In  the  year  1848  he  had  15,  in  the  year  1849  he  had 
30  boarding-pupils. 

When,  in  February  1851,  the  house  was  offered  to  him  at  a lower 
figure,  30,000  lire,  which,  however,  was  to  be  paid  in  cash,  he 
seized  the  opportunity.  On  February  19,  1851,  he  was  able  to  close 
the  contract  of  purchase.  It  is  of  interest  to  know  that  the  aid 
of  a man,  eminent  in  the  history  of  pedagogy,  Antonio  Rosmini- 
Serbati,  enabled  him  to  buy  the  house  which  was  to  become  the 

33 


34 


nucleus  of  the  great  Salesian  Institute  of  Yaldocco  and  of  many 
others  throughout  the  world.  Eosmini  gave  Don  Bosco  a loan  of 
20,000  lire.  The  remaining  10,000  lire  came  quite  unexpectedly 
through  Don  Cafasso  as  a gift  to  be  used  for  any  good  purpose. 

The  temporary  chapel  in  the  barn,  which  had  been  made  possible 
by  excavation,  had  long  since  become  too  small  for  the  large  host 
assembling  in  the  Oratory.  Don  Bosco  therefore  decided  to  build 
a new  one.  He  succeeded  through  collections  and  lotteries  in 
raising  the  necessary  money  for  the  building  operations,  so  that 
on  June  20,  1852,  the  chapel  was  ready  for  dedication.  Don  Bosco 
made  this  ceremony  as  solemn  as  possible.  He  himself  composed 
an  ode,  set  it  to  music  and  had  the  hoys  of  the  Oratory  sing  it. 
The  erection  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales  marked  the 
beginning  of  a series  of  buildings  which  Don  Bosco  put  up  in 
quick  succession,  not  without  many  a sacrifice,  in  order  to  adapt 
his  institution  to  the  growing  demands. 

After  the  completion  of  the  chapel,  Don  Bosco  began  first  the 
erection  of  a new  house  for  the  hoarding  pupils.  The  plan  for 
the  building  was  extremely  simple.  The  numerous  rooms  which 
were  provided  for  were  very  low;  the  stairways  and  halls  were 
so  narrow  and  dark  that  even  his  clerics  and  his  older  pupils  called 
his  attention  to  this  fact.  Nevertheless  he  insisted  upon  carrying 
out  the  original  plan,  because  he  wished  thereby  to  give  expression 
to  their  poverty  and  to  protect  the  hoys  against  a possible  future 
eviction. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  winter  of  1852,  the  new  building  had 
been  finished  up  to  the  roof.  Continued  rains  twice  caused  a 
partial  collapse  and  delayed  the  completion  of  the  building.  In 
the  spring  of  1853,  the  building  operations  were  resumed  and  in 
October  of  the  same  year  the  new  structure  was  completed  and 
immediately  occupied.  It  contained  the  schoolrooms,  dining  hall, 
and  sleeping  quarters.  The  number  of  the  boarders  rose  imme- 
diately to  75. 

In  the  same  year,  1853,  he  succeeded  in  renting  a house  ad- 
joining the  chapel  together  with  a dance  hall  which  was  attached 
to  it,  and  which  had  often  caused  disturbance  and  scandal.  He 
could  only  rent  it  at  this  time;  after  the  death  of  the  owner  on 
February  22,  1884,  he  finally  was  able  to  buy  it. 

At  the  end  of  1855  every  corner  of  the  Home  was  occupied. 


35 


In  March  1S'56  Don  Bosco  began  erecting  an  addition.  The  pupils 
helped  so  earnestly  during  their  recreation  periods  that  in  spite 
of  delays  the  additon  was  finished  in  October,  and,  in  November, 
was  almost  completely  filled  with  150  boarding  pupils. 

In  1860,  the  number  of  the  pupils  had  again  increased  and  Don 
Bosco  bought  a house  adjoining  the  Oratory  to  the  east.  Through 
this  purchase  he  provided  rooms  for  500  pupils.  In  1861,  he  had 
the  house  enlarged  by  several  stories  and  by  an  addition  which 
doubled  its  size.  Thus  he  obtained  also  the  space  for  a large  study 
hall.  In  1862  the  Institute  received  a further  addition  through 
the  erection  of  a new  wing. 

On  account  of  the  surprisingly  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of 
the  pupils,  the  chapel  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales  had  soon  become 
once  more  too  small  to  hold  the  host  of  boarders  and  day  scholars. 
Therefore,  Don  Bosco  planned  the  erection  of  a large  church  in 
honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Help  of  Christians.  This  church 
he  intended  not  only  to  serve  the  purposes  of  the  Oratory,  but  also 
to  supply  the  lack  of  a church  in  that  part  of  the  city.  On  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1863,  Don  Bosco  bought  as  a site  for  this  ‘church  the 
ground  opposite  the  Institute.  In  the  very  same  year,  a beginning 
was  made  with  the  foundation.  At  the  same  time  Don  Bosco 
erected  a further  addition  to  his  school  to  satisfy  the  magistrate’s 
requirements  for  larger  and  better  ventilated  schoolrooms,  which 
addition  was  finished  in  1864. 

On  April  27,  1865,  Prince  Amadeus  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the 
church  dedicated  to  Mary,  Help  of  Christians.  The  same  year  saw 
the  completion  of  the  outside  walls,  the  next  year  that  of  the  roof, 
and  on  June  8,  1866,  the  church  was  dedicated. 

The  erection  of  this  church  brought  to  a conclusion  the  external 
growth  of  Don  Bosco’s  educational  Institute  at  Valdocco.  From 
the  humble  beginning  of  the  boarding  school  in  the  cramped  living- 
quarters  of  Don  Bosco  in  1847,  the  number  of  the  pupils  had  con- 
tinually and  rapidly  increased. 

All  these  boys  received  in  the  Oratorio  their  board,  lodging  and 
common  education  and,  with  the  progressive  advance  of  the  Insti- 
tute, also  a complete  vocational  training  which  adapted  itself  to 
their  physical  and  mental  capacities,  and  which  was  given  partly 
in  the  schools  and  partly  in  the  workshops  of  the  Oratory. 

The  division  for  advanced  studies  had  its  beginning  in  1848-49, 


36 


when  Don  Bosco  began  to  teach  a few  talented  boys,  whom  he  had 
chosen  as  helpers  for  his  Sunday  and  evening  schools,  the  different 
subjects  required  in  a college  course  in  order  to  compensate  them 
for  their  services.  In  1850  the  number  of  special  students  was  12; 
this  number  increased  rapidly  because  benefactors  of  the  Oratory 
and  also  the  Government  sent  to  Don  Bosco  boys  of  impoverished 
families  who  had  been  forced  to  discontinue  their  studies,  or  were 
not  suited  for  a trade.  Besides  these,  Don  Bosco  found  among  the 
boys  of  the  Sunday  Oratory  many  of  such  excellent  talents  that 
he  would  not  let  the  opportunity  slip  by  of  helping  them  to  a 
higher  education.  At  first  he  taught  personally  in  this  division 
for  advanced  studies,  and  did  so  evidently  with  great  success,  for 
after  an  examining  committee  of  three  Senators  in  1850  had  given 
a report  of  their  findings,  the  government  granted  recognition  to 
the  Oratory,  praised  the  good  work  done  by  Don  Bosco,  gave  it 
support,  sent  to  it  boys  who  had  no  homes  and  several  times  gave 
expression  to  the  wish  that  a day  school  might  be  opened  in  the 
Oratory.  Because  he  lacked  a staff  of  teachers  Don  Bosco  could 
not  immediately  meet  this  request.  He  even  had  to  discontinue 
his  classes  for  a while,  because  in  1852  his  many  different  labors 
and  duties  made  further  teaching  impossible  for  him,  and  forced 
him  to  send  his  pupils  to  the  schools  of  two  professors  who  were 
friends  of  his. 

In  the  year  1856,  Don  Bosco  arranged  for  standard  college 
courses  which  were  planned  to  cover  the  first  three  years.  He  also 
opened  two  day  schools,  because  there  was  not  a single  school 
around  Yaldocco. 

Several  students  who  had  finished  their  Latin  courses  in  1856 
continued  their  studies  to  prepare  for  the  priesthood.  By  the  year 

1859,  Don  Bosco  was  able  to  arrange  with  the  help  of  these  pupils 
to  establish  all  the  classes  of  a complete  college  course. 

This  work  was,  however,  not  destined  to  grow  without  meeting 
opposition.  Suspicion  was  cast  upon  Don  Bosco;  he  was  accused 
of  political  intrigues  and  his  work  among  the  young  was  reported 
to  the  government  as  being  dangerous,  whereupon  on  May  26,  1860, 
the  authorities  ordered  his  house  searched,  confining  the  search, 
however,  chiefly  to  his  person.  But  in  a second  search  on  June  10, 

1860,  the  whole  house,  school,  account-books  and  so  on,  were  inves- 
tigated and  the  students  were  questioned  in  a very  improper 


37 


manner.  Don  Bosco  protested  energetically  against  the  infringe- 
ment upon  his  private  and  domestic  rights,  and  he  finally  succeeded 
in  persuading  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Farini,  that  no  danger 
threatened  either  from  his  person  or  his  work. 

The  enemies  of  Don  Bosco,  however,  did  not  remain  idle.  They 
now  advocated  the  suppression  of  his  schools  under  the  plea  that 
neither  Don  Bosco,  nor  any  of  his  teaching  staff,  had  taken  the 
necessary  state  examinations.  Don  Bosco  tried  to  provide  against 
this  danger  by  having  four  of  his  teachers  attend  the  Royal  Uni- 
versity as  “ auditors.”  When  he  was  informed  that  this  and  also  the 
courses  of  the  theological  seminary  did  not  fulfill  the  requirements, 
he  volunteered  to  have  a sufficient  number  of  his  teachers  submit  to 
the  state  examinations.  Finally  on  December  21,  1862,  after  a 
renewed  investigation  and  after  Don  Bosco  had  once  more  re- 
quested to  admit  some  of  his  helpers  to  examinations,  the  director 
of  schools  for  the  province  approved  the  teachers  employed  at  the 
Oratory  for  the  term  of  the  current  year.  In  the  following  year, 
Don  Bosco  sought  to  register  his  teachers  at  the  University  as 
regular  students,  so  as  to  avoid  further  difficulties,  but  admission 
was  refused  them  because  they  had  no  testimonials  of  a college 
recognized  by  the  government.  After  a great  deal  of  trouble  Don 
Bosco  finally  obtained  their  admission  to  an  examination  for  matri- 
culation in  the  University.  In  May,  1863,  the  schools  were  again 
subjected  to  an  investigation  lasting  two  days.  Although  the  in- 
vestigation resulted  very  favorably  to  Don  Bosco,  and  although  the 
commission  expressed  in  his  presence  their  highest  appreciation  of 
the  work  done  in  the  school  and  their  admiration  of  the  discipline 
reigning  there,  they  nevertheless  handed  to  the  Minister  an  un- 
favorable report. 

On  July  6,  the  four  “ auditors ” passed  their  entrance  examina- 
tions at  the  University.  Since,  however,  this  did  not  legally 
qualify  them  to  teach,  he  had  five  of  his  teachers  prepare  them- 
selves to  take  the  examinations  for  the  teacher’s  certificate.  All  of 
his  candidates  were  successful. 

Beginning  with  1864,  Don  Bosco  regularly  sent  his  alumni  to 
take  the  state  examinations.  His  example  in  this  matter  was  fol- 
lowed upon  his  suggestion  by  bishops  and  religious  orders.  In 
1866,  however,  Don  Bosco  saw  himself  forced  to  request  the  gov- 


38 


eminent  for  permission  to  employ  in  his  college  teachers  who  had 
not  taken  the  state  examinations,  because  those  who  had  taken 
them  were  by  this  time  needed  in  the  new  foundations  outside 
of  Turin.  His  petition  was  based  upon  two  laws  which  decreed 
that  parents  or  their  substitutes  had  the  right  to  give  their  children 
a higher  education  without  any  supervision  on  the  part  of  the  state, 
and  that  those  who  gratuitously  taught  poor  children  the  ele- 
mentary or  technical  grades  were  to  be  dispensed  from  the  obliga- 
tion of  obtaining  a teacher’s  certificate.  Don  Bosco’s  petition  was 
granted  for  the  current  school-year. 

When  in  March,  1878,  an  eye-disease  had  broken  out  in  Turin 
and  had  found  its  way  also  into  the  Oratory,  where,  however,  it 
quickly  disappeared,  the  prefect  of  the  city  ordered  a new  investi- 
gation. In  October  the  closing  of  the  day-school  was  ordered,  and 
on  June  23,  1879,  it  was  decreed  that  the  college  be  closed.  Don 
Bosco  immediately  sent  two  of  his  professors  to  Borne  to  see  the 
ministers  of  the  cabinet,  he  himself  wrote  to  the  king,  who  there- 
upon suspended  the  execution  of  the  decree.  The  matter  remained 
in  suspense  until  1881,  when  the  final  decision  was  given  that  the 
teachers  employed  in  the  Oratory  must  be  such  as  have  passed  the 
state  examinations. 

While  the  schools  of  the  Oratory  had  to  pass  through  this  severe 
struggle  for  their  existence,  the  workshops  seem  to  have  encoun- 
tered no  special  difficulties,  for  all  the  biographers  of  Don  Bosco 
record  merely  the  beginning  of  the  workshops,  usually  in  footnotes, 
and  their  increase  and  expansion. 

Until  the  year  1853,  the  boys  went  into  different  shops  in  the 
city  to  learn  their  various  trades.  The  results,  however,  were  so 
unsatisfactory  that  Don  Bosco  decided  to  erect  workshops  within 
the  Oratory  itself.  This  undertaking  grew  from  very  small  and 
primitive  beginnings.  Don  Bosco  bought  some  small  tables  and 
the  tools  necessary  for  the  repairing  of  shoes,  placed  them  at  the 
end  of  a narrow  hall- way,  and  thus  formed  the  first  workshop. 
Soon  after  he  erected  a tailor-shop,  acting  himself  as  the  first 
instructor  in  both  these  shops.  In  1854,  he  opened  a small  book- 
store and  a shop  for  bookbinding.  In  1856  there  followed  a shop 
for  cabinet-making,  in  1862,  an  establishment  for  typesetting  and 
printing  as  also  a smithy,  and  a short  time  later  a shop  for  hat- 


39 


making.  The  number  of  the  apprentices  in  the  shops  was  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  students.  While  the  preparation  of  the  boys 
according  to  their  studies  and  trades  was  of  many  different  kinds, 
there  was  no  difference  in  the  treatment  they  received.  They  were 
like  one  large  family  in  which  all  members  enjoyed  the  same  rights 
and  privileges. 


CHAPTER  6 


ASSOCIATES  AND  CO-LABORERS 

While  Don  Bosco  saw  his  work  grow  and  prosper,  he  recognized 
the  equally  growing  need  of  obtaining  permanent  co-workers,  who 
could  assist  him  in  educating  the  boys  and  supervising  the  different 
sections  of  his  institution,  and  who,  after  his  death,  would  carry 
on  the  work  in  his  spirit.  In  the  stormy  times  of  1848  and  during 
the  following  years,  the  need  of  these  permanent  co-workers  made 
itself  especially  felt.  A number  of  his  ecclesiastical  assistants 
allowed  themselves  to  be  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  the  age.  They 
wished  to  participate  with  the  boys  in  political  demonstrations. 
When  Don  Bosco  showed  himself  opposed  to  this,  they  left  him 
drawing  away,  at  least  for  a time,  many  of  the  boys.  Thus  the 
whole  burden  of  the  work  often  rested  upon  Don  Bosco  alone. 
While  even  at  an  earlier  time  he  may  have  deliberated  about  found- 
ing a religious  community,  the  experiences  of  those  years  clearly 
convinced  him  of  the  need  of  such  a foundation.  In  1847  he  went 
to  the  Istituto  della  Carita  at  Stresa,  founded  by  Rosmini,  to 
acquaint  himself  with  the  spirit  of  this  institution.  He  repeated 
his  visit  in  1850  to  gain  a more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  rules 
and  disciplinary  precepts  of  the  community.  During  this  last  visit, 
he  had  several  extended  conversations  with  Rosmini,  whom  he  had 
not  met  at  Stresa  in  1847. 

Now  he  extended  to  several  priests  who  attended  the  lectures 
of  Don  Cafasso  an  invitation  to  assist  him  and  gathered  his  co- 
workers among  the  clergy  for  a conference  once  a week.  From  time 
to  time,  he  gave  suitable  conferences  also  to  the  clerics  and  the 
most  zealous  students  who  served  him  as  helpers.  On  January  26, 
1854,  he  proposed  to  four  of  them  that  they  should  try  their  charity 
by  a practical  experiment,  first  binding  themselves  by  a promise, 
and,  later,  if  possible,  by  a vow  to  the  service  of  their  neighbor. 
This  they  did,  adopting  the  name  of  Salesians. 

The  attitude  of  the  government  and  the  political  currents  of  the 
time  were  opposed  to  all  religious  communities  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  obstacles  seemed  insurmountable.  At  this  juncture,  in  the 
year  1857,  a way  was  shown  to  him  by  a party  from  whom  this 
40 


41 


should  have  been  least  expected.  Ratazzi,  the  cabinet  minister 
who  only  a few  years  before  had  proposed  a law  against  the  religious 
orders,  called  Don  Bosco’s  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  time  had 
come  to  provide  for  the  perpetuation  of  his  work  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a community.  He  pointed  out  to  him  how  a community 
could  be  established  without  bringing  it  into  conflict  with  the  gov- 
ernment: the  community  was  to  concern  itself  with  modern  prob- 
lems, thus  meeting  the  needs  of  the  time,  while  acting  in  accordance 
with  the  laws.  Each  member  was  to  possess  and  retain  all  the 
rights  of  a free  citizen  and  at  the  same  time  assume  the  corre- 
sponding duties,  i.  e.  he  was  to  recognize  himself  subject  to  all  the 
claims  which  the  state  makes  upon  its  citizens,  v.  g.  he  was  per- 
sonally to  pay  his  taxes.  The  community  was  to  avoid  the  external 
forms  of  the  old  orders  and  was  to  arrange  its  constitutions  so  as 
to  avoid  being  classed  as  mortmain.  In  a word,  the  future  com- 
munity was  to  be  an  association  of  free  citizens  having  for  its 
purpose  the  carrying  on  of  works  of  charity. 

Don  Bosco  now  hesitated  no  longer.  While  earlier  he  may  have 
thought  of  attaching  his  work  to  Rosmini’s  Istituto  della  Carita, 
he  now  was  induced  by  the  conversation  with  Ratazzi  to  found  a 
new  community  of  his  own.  He  gathered  around  him  some  self- 
sacrificing  souls,  upon  whom  he  could  rely.  Each  one  promised  to 
obey  Don  Bosco  for  the  best  interests  of  the  Oratory  and  the  Home 
and  to  accept  the  duties  which  he  should  assign  to  them.  Several 
of  these  first  members  of  Don  Bosco’s  community  retained  their 
former  domiciles,  but  came  to  the  Oratory  on  Holydays  and  for 
the  evening  school,  while  during  the  week,  they  visited  the  boys 
or  sought  employment  for  them.  The  other  members  stayed  in 
the  Home  and  under  Don  Bosco’s  direction  lived  a community  life. 
However,  formulating  a rule  according  to  the  directions  of  Ratazzi 
was  not  an  easy  task,  as  the  members  of  the  community  were  not 
only  to  remain  free  citizens,  but  above  all  they  were  to  become  true 
religious.  Nevertheless,  Don  Bosco  completed  the  first  sketch  of 
the  constitutions  during  the  same  year.  According  to  these  con- 
stitutions the  “ Pious  Congregation  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales, ” 
consists  of  priests,  scholastics  and  lay-brothers  living  under  a 
Superior-General.  The  lay-brothers  are  to  be  chiefly  mechanics, 
who  as  masters  can  supervise  the  workshops.  The  members  retain 
all  their  civil  rights  and  obligations.  They  also  retain  the  title  to 


42 


their  personal  property,  but  they  renounce  the  administration  and 
usufruct  thereof  in  favor  of  their  Superior.  Obeying  a letter  of 
recommendation  from  Archbishop  Fransoni,  Don  Bosco,  in  an 
audience  of  March  9,  1858,  presented  the  sketch  of  the  Constitution 
in  manuscript  form  to  the  Holy  Father.  The  Pope  wished  to 
transmit  the  manuscript,  after  having  scrutinized  it  more  closely, 
at  once  to  a Commission  to  have  it  examined  and  reported  on,  but 
Don  Bosco  begged  for  the  permission  to  give  his  Constitutions  a 
practical  trial  for  a time.  On  December  8,  1859,  Don  Bosco 
announced  to  his  co-workers  that  the  Pia  Societa  was  now  officially 
to  take  its  beginning.  Only  those  who  wished  to  enter  it  were  to 
be  present  at  the  next  conference  on  December  18.  All  except  two 
appeared.  Elections  took  place  and  Don  Bosco  was  chosen  the 
first  Superior-General.  On  May  14,  1862,  the  first  twenty-two 
co-workers  took  the  three  religious  vows.  In  August,  1863,  Don 
Bosco  sent  his  rules  to  Rome  for  approval,  and  on  July  23,  1864, 
he  received  the  Decretum  laudis  and  was  appointed  Superior- 
General  for  life.  In  1869,  he  received  the  first,  and  in  April, 
1873,  the  second  and  final  approbation. 

The  rapid  growth  and  the  early  prosperity  of  the  Society  show 
sufficiently  how  well  formulated  the  constitutions  were.  At  the 
time  of  the  final  approbation  the  Society  counted  about  320  mem- 
bers. At  the  time  of  Don  Bosco’s  death,  in  the  year  1888,  there 
were  300  priests,  283  scholastics,  184  lay-brothers  and  189  novices. 
How  fully  the  Holy  Father  approved  of  the  constitutions  is  shown 
by  the  fact,  that  he  commissioned  Don  Bosco  to  reform  according  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Salesian  Society  the  rules  of  a Roman  Institution 
which  he  wished  to  affiliate  to  that  of  Don  Bosco’s,  while  keeping 
it  within  the  bounds  of  its  original  purpose. 

Don  Bosco’s  zeal  for  souls  was  not  to  confine  itself  merely  to 
his  boys,  he  was  to  exercise  his  influence  also  through  a Society 
of  Sisters  for  the  rescue  and  the  education  of  poor  girls. 

In  1860,  a priest  of  Monrese,  Domenico  Pestarino,  joined  the 
Society  of  the  Salesians.  Don  Bosco  consented  that  he  should 
retain  his  home  in  his  own  city,  because  he  had  founded  there,  in 
1855,  an  “Association  of  Daughters  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, ” 
the  members  of  which  although  remaining  in  their  homes  were  to 
strive  for  perfection  through  observance  of  the  evangelical  counsels. 
This  association  received  episcopal  sanction  in  1857  and  spread 


43 


through  many  provinces  of  Italy.  In  Monrese  a few  members  of 
this  association  had  left  their  homes  and  retired  into  a house  be- 
longing to  Don  Pestarino  and  there,  under  the  direction  of  their 
founder,  lived  a community  life  without  being  bound  thereto  by 
their  rules.  When  Don  Bosco,  in  May,  1870,  definitely  decided  to 
extend  his  work  also  to  poor  and  destitute  girls,  and  had  to  select 
helpers  for  this  task,  his  choice  fell  upon  these  pious  women  in' 
Monrese,  because  they  had  already  been  trained  in  the  Salesian 
spirit  by  their  Director  and  had  thus  been  prepared  for  the  work. 
He  submitted  his  plan  to  the  Holy  Father,  received  his  full  ap^- 
proval  and  the  commission  to  draw  up  the  rules  for  the  Sisters 
after  the  model  of  the  Salesian  constitutions,  and  to  affiliate  their 
community  to  the  Society  of  the  Salesians,  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  were  affiliated  to  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Lazarists.  After  a preparatory  retreat,  eleven 
sisters  received  the  veil  on  August  5,  1872,  and  took  their  vows  for 
three  years.  Maria  Mazzarello  was  appointed  the  first  Mother 
Superior  of  the  “ Daughters  of  Mary,  Help  of  Christians,”  which 
was  the  name  assumed  by  the  new  community. 

The  purpose  of  the  community  was  the  education  of  poor  and 
destitute  girls,  instruction  in  the  elementary  grades  and  in  do- 
mestic and  agricultural  work.  This  new  foundation  also  met  with 
great  success.  At  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  first  Superior,  Sister 
Maria  Mazzarello,  in  1881,  the  community  consisted  of  several  hun- 
dred members  laboring  in  many  different  places  in  Italy,  France 
and  America.  In  1913,  the  community  had  more  than  three 
hundred  houses:  orphanages,  educational  institutions,  elementary 
schools,  workshops,  homes  for  working  girls,  and  mission-houses 
in  pagan  countries. 

Don  Bosco  was  assisted  also  by  a third  class  of  co-wTorkers,  who 
had  stood  by  his  side  since  the  early  days  of  his  work.  Soon  after 
the  opening  of  the  Oratory,  a few  priests  and  laymen  volunteered 
their  help  for  the  teaching  of  the  catechism  and  of  the  elementary 
grades.  Others  assisted  in  seeking  employment  for  the  boys,  visit- 
ing them  during  the  week  or  collecting  money  for  Don  Bosco’s 
purposes.  A number  of  pious  ladies  also  assisted  by  taking  care 
of  the  boys’  clothes. 

Don  Bosco  esteemed  these  “ Cooperatori,”  as  he  called  them,  very 
highly  and  sought  to  procure  for  them  all  possible  privileges.  In 


44 


1850  he  united  them  into  a pious  association,  the  “ Pia  Unione 
provissoria  ” under  the  patronage  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales.  What 
Don  Bosco’s  ideas  were  regarding  the  relation  of  these  cooperators 
to  the  Salesian  Society  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  he  added  to  the 
first  sketch  of  the  Salesian  Constitutions  a paragraph  “ concerning 
the  externals,”  according  to  which  these  cooperators  were  to  be 
added  to  the  Salesian  Society  as  a kind  of  third  order. 

The  rules  wdiich  he  wrote  for  the  cooperatori  were  approved  in 
1876,  after  they  had  been  repeatedly  revised.  All  the  privileges 
that  had  been  granted  to  the  third  order  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi 
were  granted  also  to  the  cooperatori,  although  their  union  is  strictly 
speaking  not  a third  order.  It  is  a fraternity  which  has  for  its) 
object  the  vigorous  promotion  of  all  Salesian  works,  the  Christian 
education  of  youth  and  the  furtherance  of  the  Catholic  press. 

The  number  of  these  cooperators  grew  rapidly  and  spread  through 
all  countries  where  Salesian  Institutes  have  been  erected,  and  they 
are  numbered  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  In  1877,  Don  Bosco 
started  the  publication  of  a Monthly,  “the  Bolletino  Salesiano,” 
for  the  Cooperatori  in  order  to  keep  them  informed  about  the 
progress  of  the  Salesian  works  and  to  offer  them  continually  new 
inspiration  and  instruction.  He,  furthermore,  carried  on  an  active 
correspondence  with  many  cooperators,  often  communicating  to 
them  in  circular  letters  his  troubles  and  his  successes,  and  always 
eliciting  their  renewed  interest  in  his  work.  "Wherever  he  hap- 
pened to  be  during  his  travels,  he  gave  conferences  to  the  co- 
operators  with  the  object  of  advancing  them  in  the  spiritual  life 
and  of  showing  them  his  gratitude.  After  his  death  there  was 
found  among  his  papers  a testament  for  the  cooperators  in  which 
he  urges  upon  them,  in  a touching  way,  the  care  of  the  young  and 
wherein  he  vividly  describes  the  importance  and  meritorious  char- 
acter of  their  work  of  charity.  What  enabled  Don  Bosco  to  achieve 
his  wonderful  results  was  to  a great  extent  the  loyal  and  untiring 
assistance  of  these  cooperatori,  whom  he  had  been  able  to  inspire 
with  zeal  for  his  enterprises. 


CHAPTER  7 


EXPANSION  OF  FOUNDATIONS 

After  Don  Bosco  had  succeeded,  at  Easter  1846,  in  securing  for 
the  Oratory  a definite  place  with  ample  room,  as  he  thought,  for 
new  additions  and  improvements,  the  number  of  the  boys  increased 
so  rapidly  that  further  provision  for  them  had  to  be  made.  Since 
one-third  of  the  number  of  the  boys  came  to  Yaldocco  from  distant 
parts  of  the  city,  he  decided  to  found  a new  Oratory  in  the  southern 
part  of  Turin,  near  the  Porta  Nuova.  With  the  approval  of  the 
Archbishop  he  rented  a small  house  with  an  annex  for  450  lire, 
prepared  a chapel  and  on  December  8,  1847,  opened  the  Oratory 
which  was  dedicated  to  St.  Aloysius.  This  Oratory  was  for  some 
time  without  a definite  Director ; priests  of  the  city  who  were  inter- 
ested in  the  work  volunteered  their  services  until  the  Oratory  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales  was  able  to  provide  the  needed  priests.  In 
1848,  the  number  of  boys  at  the  Oratory  of  St.  Aloysius  was  five 
hundred.  In  1857,  Don  Bosco  added  to  it  the  evening  schools  and 
opened  an  elementary  school  in  a little  house  which  had  been 
erected  for  the  purpose.  The  teachers  were  engaged  and  paid  by 
himself  as  he  had  not  then  at  his  disposal  his  own  trained  teachers 
with  state  certificates.  When  a street  had  been  laid  through  the 
property  belonging  to  the  Oratory  of  St.  Aloysius,  Don  Bosco  made 
plans,  as  early  as  1869,  to  build  upon  the  lot  opposite  the  Oratory 
a large  church  with  an  adjoining  Institute.  Numerous  difficulties, 
however,  made  it  impossible  to  begin  the  work  until  1878.  On 
August  14,  1878,  the  cornerstone  was  laid  and  on  October  28,  1882, 
the  church  was  consecrated  and  placed  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
John,  the  Evangelist.  The  adjoining  Institute  contained  rooms 
for  160  boarding  students  besides  schoolrooms  and  study  halls. 

In  1849,  Don  Bosco  took  over  an  Oratory,  or  rather  a recreation 
hall,  which  had  been  established  by  a certain  Don  Cocchi,  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  facilities  for  social  entertainments  and  espe- 
cially athletics.  On  October  3,  1849,  he  opened  this  new  Oratory 
which  he  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Guardian  Angels,  and  which  soon 
was  attended  by  from  300  to  400  boys.  In  1866,  Don  Bosco  dis- 
continued it,  because  a new  parish  had  been  erected  in  that  vicinity, 
4 45 


46 


and  the  education  and  religious  instruction  of  the  boys  was  thereby 
sufficiently  provided  for. 

After  the  Society  had  lived  a few  years  according  to  its  consti- 
tution, it  began  to  spread  outside  of  Turin.  In  1860,  Don  Bosco 
undertook  the  reform  of  the  “ Little  Seminary  ” in  Giavenna. 
When  this  reform  proved  so  successful  that  the  number  of  pupils 
rose  during  the  first  school  year  from  a very  few  to  150,  and  in  the 
following  year  to  240,  he  made  plans  to  erect  his  own  “ Little 
Seminary,”  at  Mirabello,  Montferrato,  in  order  to  secure  as  many 
priestly  vocations  as  possible.  Building  operations  were  begun  in 
1861.  In  1863,  the  Institution  was  opened  as  the  Piccolo  Semi- 
nario  di  San  Carlo.  A second  branch  establishment  followed  in 
October,  1864,  when  upon  an  urgent  request  Don  Bosco  took  over 
the  Collegio  Convitto  in  Lanzo,  near  Turin,  which  had  been  closed 
for  several  years.  In  1869,  he  took  over  the  administration  of  a 
parish  church  in  Cherasco  and  began  there  the  erection  of  a College. 
In  1870,  he  transferred  the  Piccolo  Seminario  of  San  Carlo  from 
Mirabello  to  Borgo  San  Martino  and  opened  the  Collegio  Convitto 
Municipale  in  Alassio.  In  the  same  year,  he  founded  in  Marassi, 
near  Genoa,  the  Hospice  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  which  in  1872  he 
transferred  to  San  Pier  d’Arena,  where  a former  Theatine  Monas- 
tery with  a splendid  church  had  been  placed  at  his  disposal.  In 
1871,  he  transferred  the  College  of  Cherasco  to  Verazze. 

In  1872,  Don  Bosco  took  over  the  Collegio  Convitto  of  Valsalice 
and  in  so  doing  overstepped  the  boundary-line  which  he  had  -for- 
merly drawn  for  himself,  for  this  Convitto  had  been  founded  by  an 
association  of  priests  for  boys  of  the  nobility.  He  had  delayed  a 
long  time  before  accepting  the  Institute,  because  he  wanted  to  see 
all  the  Salesian  forces  at  work  for  the  children  of  the  common 
people  and  the  poor.  Only  the  express  and  urgent  wish  of  Arch- 
bishop Gastaldi  moved  him  finally  to  make  the  single  exception  to 
his  Salesian  rule. 

Requests  for  Salesian  establishments  became  more  and  more 
frequent.  In  1874,  more  than  50  were  received  from  different 
places  in  Italy,  from  Asia,  Africa  and  America;  no  wonder,  then 
that  Don  Bosco  tried  to  think  of  ways  and  means  to  increase  the 
number  of  his  priests.  He  had  observed  that  among  his  pupils 
those  of  a more  advanced  age  were  much  more  persevering  once 
they  had  decided  to  study  for  the  priesthood  than  those  who 


47 


began  their  studies  when  still  very  young.  This  led  him  to  the 
decision  to  erect  a house  of  studies  for  those  who  wished  to  begin 
studies  in  preparation  for  the  priesthood  at  an  advanced  age.  He, 
therefore,  founded  a society  which  he  called  " Opera  di  Maria 
Ausiliatrice  per  le  vocazioni  degli  adulti  alio  Stato  Ecclesiastico,” 
whose  members  were  to  help  supply  the  necessary  means  for  the 
house  of  studies.  This  society  was  approved  by  the  Holy  Father 
in  1875  and  favored  with  many  privileges.  In  spite  of  numerous 
obstacles  and  after  great  sacrifices,  Don  Bosco  was  able  to  begin  this 
work  at  the  opening  of  the  school  year  1875-76,  in  the  Ospicio  di 
San  Vincenzo  de  Paoli  in  San  Pier  d’ Arena.  The  very  first  year 
it  was  successful : more  than  one  hundred  young  men  were  received, 
and  about  forty  asked  the  following  year  for  the  clerical  cassock 
and  expressed  a desire  to  go  on  for  the  higher  studies. 

In  1875,  Don  Bosco  thought  the  time  had  come  to  extend  his 
work  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Italy.  When  in  that  year  a delega- 
tion of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  of  Nizza  came  personally 
to  Don  Bosco  at  Turin  in  order  to  ask  for  an  establishment  of  his 
Society  for  the  poor  children  of  Nizza,  he  consented,  and,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1875,  went  himself  to  that  city,  to  be  present  at  the  opening 
of  the  first  Salesian  establishment  abroad.  He  named  the  house 
"Patronage  de  St.  Pierre.”  Here  also  the  beginnings  were  ex- 
tremely modest,  but  after  only  a few  years  the  Institution  sheltered 
300  orphans. 

The  fame  of  his  personality  and  his  work  spread  so  rapidly  and 
so  universally  that  in  the  year  1877,  while  visiting  Marseilles,  he 
was  petitioned  for  Salesian  establishments  by  30  different  French 
cities. 

In  1878  he  founded  in  Marseilles  the  Leo-House  especially  for 
artisans.  This  house  had  to  be  enlarged  two  years  later.  Further 
enlargements  were  made  from  time  to  time,  improvements  of  vari- 
ous kinds  were  made  and  modem  machinery  introduced.  It  has 
proved  a highly  successful  venture. 

In  the  same  year,  1878,  he  founded  an  Agricultural  School  near 
Toulon,  and  at  St.  Cyr  a Sunday-Oratory,  school  and  an  Orphan- 
age. Furthermore,  he  established  in  Marseilles  a House  for  Sisters, 
and  at  St.  Cyr  an  Agricultural  Colony  for  Girls  under  the  guidance 
of  Sisters. 

In  1881,  Don  Bosco  combined  the  Salesian  Houses  in  France 


48 


into  a separate  province  with  the  motherhouse  at  Marseilles.  Every 
year  he  made  a journey  to  France  to  visit  the  establishments,  and 
to  collect  alms  for  his  children  and  his  buildings.  Everywhere  he 
was  received  with  enthusiasm,  especially  in  Paris,  where  in  the 
suburb  Menilmontant,  he  opened,  in  1883,  an  Institute  which  was 
soon  to  accommodate  several  hundred  boys.  Almost  at  the  same 
time  he  founded  a House  in  Lille  which  after  a few  years  became 
the  home  of  400  boys. 

When  still  a young  student  Don  Bosco  had  become  very  much 
interested  in  and  enthusiastic  about  the  foreign  missions,  especially 
through  the  reading  of  the  “ Lettere  edificanti  dell’  Opera  della 
Propagazione  della  Fede.”  The  love  for  a Missionary’s  vocation 
remained  in  his  heart.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  natural  that  after 
having  founded  the  Salesian  Society,  he  should  again  occupy  himself 
with  the  plan  of  sending  his  sons  also  into  this  field  of  labor  and 
of  making  the  foreign  missions  a part  of  the  activity  of  his  Society. 
When,  in  January,  1875,  the  Consul  of  Argentine  came  to  Valdocco 
and  in  the  name  of  the  Archbishop  of  Buenos  Ayres  asked  for 
missionaries,  Don  Bosco  consented  with  real  joy.  The  first  thing 
to  be  undertaken  was  the  foundation  of  a college  at  San  Nicolas 
and  of  a Home  at  Buenos  Ayres  for  poor  children.  After  Don 
Bosco  had  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Holy  Father,  he  made  all 
the  preparations  and  especially  sought  to  inspire  his  fellow  laborers 
with  his  own  enthusiasm  for  the  missions  so  that  he  might  be  sure 
of  their  assistance  in  this  work.  November  11,  1875,  was  the  day 
of  departure  of  the  first  Salesian  Missionaries : six  priests  and  four 
lay-brothers  with  Don  Cagliere  as  their  superior.  Immediately 
after  their  arrival  at  Buenos  Ayres,  on  December  14,  they  fitted  up 
their  first  house,  a College  of  boys  in  San  Nicolas  de  los  Arrayos, 
near  Buenos  Ayres.  This  house  was  to  become  the  center  whence 
the  missionaries  started  upon  their  expeditions,  and  whither  those 
of  the  Fathers  who  needed  a rest  might  return  and  recuperate  from 
their  hardships.  A number  of  the  missionaries,  upon  the  urgent 
request  of  the  Archbishop,  took  over  the  church  Mater  Miseri- 
cordiae  in  Buenos  Ayres  which  was  attended  chiefly  by  Italians. 
On  November  7,  1876  a second  group  of  missionaries,  this  time 
twenty-three,  started  their  journey  to  South  America.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1877,  they  were  followed  by  a third  group ; and  in  March,  1878, 
Don  Bosco  was  able  to  report  in  an  audience  to  the  Holy  Father 


49 


that  sixty  of  his  missionaries  were  active  in  South  America  and 
that  they  had  been  joined  by  thirty  native  novices.  Since  the 
Sisters  also  had  taken  up  the  foreign  mission  labors  the  work  could 
be  carried  on  successfully  for  both  boys  and  girls.  Many  new 
foundations  followed  in  quick  succession  in  Argentine,  Uruguay 
and  Paraguay:  Orphanages,  Colleges,  Sunday-Oratories,  churches 
and  well  equipped  workshops  for  both  boys  and  girls. 

In  order  better  to  meet  the  demands,  and  give  the  missionaries 
a more  suitable  preparatory  training,  especially  after  he  had  re- 
ceived requests  for  missionaries  for  still  other  parts  of  the  world, 
Don  Bosco  changed  the  College  of  Yalsalice  into  a Seminary  for 
Foreign  Missions. 

While  the  foundations  in  the  Foreign  Mission  field  had  rapidly 
increased,  the  expansion  of  the  Salesian  Society  had  not  halted  in 
Europe.  Spain  received  its  first  Salesian  establishment  in  1881  in 
Utrera,  and,  almost  contemporaneously  with  it,  a House  of  Sisters 
in  Barcelona.  Bequests  had  come  from  England  as  early  as  1873 
urging  Don  Bosco  to  send  there  some  of  his  sons.  He  had  given 
his  promise,  and  in  1887  opened  a house  in  West  Battersea  which 
in  the  next  year,  1888,  for  lack  of  sufficient  accommodations  had 
to  be  transferred  to  a larger  building. 

In  the  same  year  the  Salesians  established  themselves  also  at 
Liege  in  Belgium. 

Italy  saw  the  erection  of  a new  House  almost  every  year.  Bor- 
dighera,  Specia,  Este,  Lucca,  San  Benigno,  Brindisi,  Randazzo, 
Challonges,  Penango,  Faenza,  Firenze,  Foglizzo,  Catania  in  Sicily 
succeeded  one  after  another  in  securing  sons  of  Don  Bosco.  Nor 
did  Rome  remain  without  a Salesian  foundation.  In  1880,  Pope 
Leo  XIII  turned  over  to  him  the  task  of  erecting  a church  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  Don  Bosco  not  only  joyfully  accepted  this  work,  but 
in  addition  asked  permission  to  build  adjoining  to  the  church  a 
house  for  a Salesian  establishment.  This  house  was  to  provide, 
as  he  told  his  cooperators  in  a circular  letter,  a place  of  recreation 
for  boys  where  on  Sundays  and  holydays,  after  having  fulfilled 
their  religious  duties  they  could  enjoy  themselves  in  innocent 
games  and  entertainments.  It  was,  furthermore,  to  contain  a night 
school  for  young  working  men  and  a day  school  for  poof  children, 
and,  above  all,  it  was  to  be  a home  for  all  those  young  people  who 
had  been  deceived  by  the  hope  of  finding  in  Rome  work  and  good 


50 


wages  and  were  now  in  danger  of  turning  to  criminal  ways.  In 
this  home  the  sciences  and  arts  were  to  be  taught  as  well  as  the 
trades,  so  that  every  pupil  might  be  trained  for  his  vocation 
according  to  his  individual  capacity  and  talent.  It  was  a difficult 
task  which  Don  Bosco  assumed,  but  he  shrank  from  no  hardship 
and  labor.  In  spite  of  his  then  failing  health  and  growing  debility, 
he  undertook  several  journeys  to  France  to  collect  additional 
building-funds  and  thus  to  avoid  a threatened  delay  in  the  building. 
The  more  he  began  to  feel  his  weakness  the  more  did  he  urge  speed 
in  the  completion  of  the  church,  because  it  was  his  dearest  wish 
to  be  able  to  assist  in  person  at  its  dedication.  This  wish  was 
granted  him.  On  May  14,  1887,  he  was  present  at  the  solemn 
consecration  of  the  church. 

This  journey  to  Rome  was  his  last.  His  strength  failed  visibly; 
he  soon  became  so  weak  that  he  could  not  walk  without  the  assist- 
ance of  others.  Towards  the  end  of  December,  1887,  his  condition 
grew  daily  worse  and  on  January  31,  1888,  his  life  of  uninter- 
rupted activity  came  to.  a close.  A man  who  had  been  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  his  time  had  thus  passed  away.  Amid  the  greatest 
difficulties  and  labors,  he  had  produced  a work  which  will  hardly 
find  its  equal,  and  which  fully  deserved  the  recognition  it  received 
from  both  Church  and  state. 


PART  III 

EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM. 


CHAPTER  8 


CHARITY,  BASIC  PRINCIPLE  OF  SYSTEM 

About  the  foundation  of  his  system  Don  Bosco  himself  speaks 
in  his  Regolamento,  with  all  the  clearness  that  can  be  desired. 
“La  pratica  di  questo  systema  e tutta  appoggiata  sopra  la  parola 
di  San  Paolo  che  dice : Caritas  patiens  est,  benigna  est  . . . omnia 
suffert,  omnia  sperat,  omnia  sustinet.”  To  Don  Bosco  charity  is 
the  only  foundation  of  his  whole  system.  To  this  he  held  firmly. 
Out  of  love  for  the  forsaken  and  endangered  children  he  became  a 
priest;  out  of  love  for  them  he  gave  up  his  secure  position  and 
shunned  neither  poverty  nor  want,  nor  mockery,  nor  suspicion. 
The  love  for  his  children  sharpened  his  wits  so  that  he  found  con- 
tinually new  ways  of  helping  them,  it  strengthened  his  will  so  that 
he  overcame  every  difficulty.  I fact,  it  was  love,  and  love  alone, 
that  called  into  being  the  life  work  of  Don  Bosco,  built  institutions 
in  every  country,  trained  fellow-workers  and  provided  again  and 
again  the  means  wherewith  to  do  such  great  things. 

In  accordance  with  this  ideal,  Don  Bosco  laid  down  the  rule  for 
his  institutions  and  for  his  fellow-laborers.  Love  is  to  urge  them 
to  warn  the  child  at  the  right  time  so  that  it  may  not  be  harmed 
through  neglect.  All  their  words  are  to  be  full  of  love.  In  their 
mutual  relations,  even  if  it  is  a question  of  rebuke  and  punish- 
ment, love  must  show  itself  so  unmistakably  that  the  children  may 
be  filled  with  confidence  and  they  may  be  drawn  to  love  them.  In 
a word:  love  is  for  Don  Bosco  everything  in  education,  it  is  the 
goal,  the  point  of  departure  and  the  means. 

Love  can  be  the  foundation  of  education,  as  it  unquestionably 
was  in  the  case  of  Don  Bosco,  when  education  is  viewed  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  one  who  educates.  If,  however,  it  is  viewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  one  who  is  to  be  educated,  it  is  probably  safe 
to  say  that  love  can  only  in  a limited  sense  be  a suitable  foundation 

51 


52 


for  education.  The  child  has  not  yet  sufficiently  developed  to  be 
impressed  by  the  idealism  of  altruistic  principles  and  to  be  guided 
by  them  in  his  actions.  There  is  need  for  other  and  more  selfish 
motives.  These  are  given  by  the  assurance  of  reward  and  punish- 
ment. As  in  every  other  educational  system,  these  two  points  play 
an  important  part  in  Don  Bosco’s  system.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
Don  Bosco’s  attitude  in  regard  to  them. 

About  punishment  he  speaks  very  clearly  in  his  Regolamento.  He 
states  as  a first  principle  that,  wherever  it  is  possible,  punishment 
should  be  eliminated  entirely.  If,  however,  it  should  become  neces- 
sary, the  following  should  be  observed. 

1)  The  educator  should  seek  the  love  of  his  pupils,  if  he  wishes 
to  be  respected.  Then  he  can  use  the  withdrawal  of  his  love  and 
benevolence  as  a punishment  which  will  prompt  emulation,  but 
never  humiliate. 

2)  Except  in  extraordinary  cases,  censure  or  punishment  is  not 
to  be  given  publicly,  but  only  privately,  and  not  in  the  presence  of 
the  fellow  pupils.  The  greatest  prudence  and  patience  are  to  be 
used  in  order  to  convince  the  pupil  of  his  guilt  by  reasoning  and 
on  religious  grounds. 

3)  With  children  everything  becomes  a punishment  which  is 
used  as  such.  Thus  some  are  more  deeply  impressed  by  a sharp 
look  than  others  are  by  having  their  ears  boxed.  Praise,  when  a 
thing  has  been  done  well,  and  a rebuke,  when  it  has  been  done 
carelessly,  may  be  sufficient  as  a reward  or  punishment. 

4)  Whipping  in  any  form,  making  children  kneel  in  a painful 
position,  boxing  the  ears  and  other  similar  punishments  must  be 
avoided  altogether,  because  they  are  forbidden  by  the  civil  law, 
they  incense  the  children  highly,  and  they  humiliate  the  teacher. 

5)  The  director  should  make  the  rules  well  known,  also  the 
rewards  and  punishments  as  laid  down  by  the  disciplinary  rules, 
so  that  no  pupil  may  come  with  the  excuse,  that  he  did  not  know 
that  this  was  commanded  or  forbidden.1 

1 In  Chapter  XXI  of  the  Storia  delP  Oratorio  di  S.  Francesco  di 
Sales  (Bolletino  Salesiano,  Sept.  1880),  D.  Bosco  added  two  more  para- 
graphs to  these  five  rules.  In  the  first  additional  paragraph,  he  says  that 
the  Superior  meeting  out  any  punishment  should  first  establish  the  degree 
of  the  pupil’s  culpability;  where  an  admonition  is  sufficient,  he  should  not 
reprimand,  and  where  a reprimand  is  sufficient,  he  should  not  go  any  fur- 


53 


In  the  conclusion  of  his  regulations  regarding  punishments,  Don 
Bosco  expresses  it  as  his  conviction  that  by  following  this  method 
great  success  can  be  obtained,  and  that  without  the  use  of  a rod 
or  any  other  violent  punishments.  He  himself  did  not  recall  ever 
having  inflicted  any  punishment  during  the  forty  years  which  he 
had  spent  among  children ; and  yet,  with  the  help  of  God,  he  accom- 
plished not  only  the  things  which  were  obligatory,  but  also  the 
things  he  considered  desirable,  and  this  even  with  children  of  whose 
improvement  others  had  despaired. 

Regarding  the  position  given  in  his  system  to  rewards,  he  does 
not  speak  with  equal  clearness.  He  probably  was  convinced  that 
in  this  matter  mistakes  need  not  so  easily  be  feared  nor  would  they 
cause  so  much  harm,  so  that  the  matter  might  be  left  more  to  the 
judgment  of  the  individual  teacher.  Bonetti  2 tells  us  that  for  a 
number  of  years  it  was  a custom  on  the  evening  of  the  feast  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales  to  distribute  premiums  to  such  children  as 
were  picked  by  the  majority  of  the  children  themselves,  through  a 
ballot  vote,  as  the  best  and  worthiest  among  them.  This  peculiar 
way  of  determining  their  worth  seems  to  have  been  discontinued 
later  on  by  Don  Bosco  himself.  In  the  Regolamento  the  only  men- 
tion made  is  of  the  marking  system.  In  different  places  he  demands 
that  the  assistants  should  observe  the  industry  and  the  conduct  of 
the  pupils,  and  that  at  the  end  of  each  week  they  should  hand  in 
to  the  Superior  a note  on  the  conduct  of  the  children.  In  accord- 
ance with  these  marks,  reward  or  punishment  is  to  be  determined. 


ther.  In  the  other  paragraph  he  warns  the  Superior  not  to  punish,  either 
by  way  of  word  or  action,  as  long  as  his  mind  is  excited;  nor  should  he 
punish  cases  of  simple  inadvertence,  nor  too  often.  Cfr.  Lemoyne,  Vita  II, 
p.  282.  These  two  paragraphs  have  been  omitted  in  the  Regolamento. 

2 Bonetti,  Cinque  Lustri,  p.  184-85. 


CHAPTER  9 


THE  PREVENTIVE  METHOD 

At  every  opportunity,  publicly  and  privately,  before  members  of 
the  government  and  before  princes  of  the  Church,  Don  Bosco  main- 
tained again  and  again  with  great  zeal  and  warmth  that  the  Pre- 
ventive method  was  the  one  used  in  the  education  of  his  boys.  He 
never  tired  of  praising  its  advantages,  and  he  earnestly  endeavored 
to  fill  his  sons  with  his  own  sentiments  in  this  regard  and  to  instil 
into  them  the  spirit  of  this  method.  How  he  succeeded  in  this, 
can  best  be  seen  by  the  constant  claim  of  the  Salesians  that  in  all 
their  institutions  the  method  is  cultivated  and  followed. 

Since  Don  Bosco  laid  such  great  stress  upon  his  preventive 
method,  it  is  of  interest  to  see  what  he  himself  understood  by  this 
term.  It  had  been  his  intention,  as  he  said,  in  order  to  satisfy 
many  requests,  to  write  a book  in  which  he  would  treat  exactly 
and  at  length  of  its  use  in  his  institutions.  But  his  intention  was 
never  carried  out.  We,  therefore,  have  as  a guide  to  his  method 
only  his  various  occasional  utterances  on  the  subject,  especially  in 
his  Regolamento  per  le  case  della  pia  Societa  di  San  Francesco 
di  Sales. 

The  Regolamento  consists  of  two  parts.  In  the  first  part,  under 
the  heading,  “ Sistema  preventivo  ed  Uffici  particulari,”  Don  Bosco 
first  gives  an  exposition  of  his  preventive  method,  a few  rules  about 
punishment  and  ten  Articoli  Generali  i.  e.  general  principles  about 
education.  After  these  explanations,  which,  as  a matter  of  fact, 
serve  as  a kind  of  introduction  to  the  Regolamento , he  establishes 
in  eighteen  chapters  the  rules  which  are  to.  be  followed  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  various  offices,  such  as  those  of  the  Director, 
the  Prefect,  the  Catechist,  etc.  In  the  second  part  under  the  head- 
ing ‘ Regolamento  Generale 9 he  treats  in  sixteen  chapters  the 
aim  of  the  houses  of  his  congregation,  the  reception  and  the  be- 
havior of  the  pupils.  To  the  Regolamento  is  added  an  Appendix 
teaching  how  to  write  letters. 

In  the  Regolamento  1 Don  Bosco  says  that  a distinction  may  be 

1 Parte  I,  II  sistema  preventivo. 

54 


55 


drawn  between  two  methods  which  have  been  followed  in  education 
from  the  beginning:  the  Preventive  and  the  Repressive  System. 
In  the  repressive  system  the  subject  is  informed  of  the  law,  then 
follows  the  supervision  which  detects  the  delinquents  and  finally 
the  imposition  of  the  punishment  deserved.  With  the  use  of  this 
method,  the  language  and  the  appearance  of  the  superior  have  to 
be  severe  and  even  fear-inspiring,  and  he  himself  has  to  avoid  all 
familiarity  with  his  subjects. 

In  order  to  reinforce  his  authority,  the  director  must  not  appear 
in  the  midst  of  his  subjects  except  rarely  and,  for  the  most  part, 
only  when  it  is  a question  of  administering  punishments  or  rebukes. 

This  method  is  easy,  brings  little  fatigue  and  recommends  itself, 
according  to  Don  Bosco,  especially  for  the  military  and,  in  general, 
for  persons  of  advanced  age  who  are  capable  of  recognizing  the 
laws  and  of  remembering  what  is  required  by  them. 

Entirely  different  and  directly  opposed  to  this  is  the  preventive 
method.  This  also  includes,  it  is  true,  the  publication  of  the  pre- 
cepts and  statutes  of  the  institution  and  then  the  supervision,  but 
in  such  a way  that  the  pupils  always  feel  themselves  protected  by 
the  directors  or  assistants  who  speak  to  them  as  loving  fathers, 
serve  as  their  guides  at  every  step,  assist  them  with  their  counsel 
and  correct  them  lovingly,  all  this  in  order  to  help  the  pupil  avoid 
possible  faults. 

This  method  is  founded  entirely  upon  reason,  religion  and 
benevolence;  therefore  it  excludes  all  severe  punishments  and  seeks 
to  do  away  even  with  the  lighter  punishments. 

Don  Bosco  gave  four  reasons  for  his  view  that  this  method  was 
to  be  preferred. 

1)  A pupil  previously  warned  is  not  so  humiliated  by  his  fault 
as  when  he  is  denounced  to  his  superior.  He,  furthermore,  does  not 
feel  hurt  when  corrected,  even  with  the  threat  or  the  imposition 
of  a punishment,  because  the  correction  is  always  accompanied  by 
kindly  advice  which  seeks  to  win  the  heart  of  the  pupil  so  that 
he  may  see  the  necessity  of  the  punishment  and  almost  in  a way 
wish  for  it. 

2)  The  real  reason  for  the  faults  of  the  children  is  the  fickleness 
of  childhood,  which  causes  a momentary  forgetfulness  of  the  rules 
of  discipline  and  of  the  punishment  threatened.  Thus  it  often 
happens  that  a child  commits  a fault  and  incurs  a punishment 


56 


without  ever  thinking  of  it  at  the  moment,  and  this  surely  would 
have  been  avoided,  if  the  voice  of  a friend  had  sounded  a warning. 

3)  The  repressive  system  can  prevent  disorder,  but  it  cannot 
easily  make  the  guilty  one  a better  person.  It  even  has  been 
noticed,  as  Don  Bosco  remarks,  that  children  long  remember  with 
bitterness  the  punishments  inflicted  and  often  desire  to  revenge 
themselves.  Even  if  it  seems  at  times  that  children  are  little  con- 
cerned about  these  things,  it  is  well  enough  known  among  experts 
how  tenacious  the  memories  of  children  often  are  and  how,  while 
forgetting  rather  quickly  the  punishments  inflicted  by  their  par- 
ents, they  are  often  very  slow  in  forgetting  those  of  their  teachers. 
Don  Bosco  states  it  as  a fact  that  people  have  cruelly  revenged 
themselves  in  later  life  for  certain  punishments  inflicted  upon 
them  unjustly  during  their  youth. 

The  preventive  system  on  the  contrary  seeks  to  make  a friend  of 
the  pupil  and  to  enable  him  to  see  in  his  teacher  a benefactor  and 
protector  who  warns  him  and  shields  him  from  trouble,  punishment 
and  dishonor. 

4)  The  preventive  system  permits  the  teacher  to  appeal  to  the 
heart  of  the  pupil,  and,  having  won  his  heart,  to  exercise  great 
power  over  him  throughout  the  rest  of  his  life. 

With  regard  to  the  practical  application  of  this  method,  Don 
Bosco  lays  down  definite  rules.  The  foundation  is  charity,  as 
expressed  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul:  Caritas  patiens  est,  benigna 
est  . . . omnia  suffert,  omnia  sperat,  omnia  sustinet  (1  Cor.  13, 
4-7).  Therefore,  only  a Christian  can  apply  this  method  with 
success.  Reason  and  Religion  are  the  means  which  the  educator 
must  constantly  use,  teach  and  practice,  if  he  would  find  obedience 
and  reach  his  goal. 

The  director  must  devote  himself  entirely  to  his  pupils  and  he 
should  never  assume  duties  which  keep  him  from  his  proper  office. 
He  should  always  be  present  with  his  pupils  and  if  prevented  by 
official  business,  he  should  have  some  one  else  filling  his  place. 

The  teachers,  masters,  assistants  must  be  of  good  moral  character. 
They  must  shun  like  a pestilence  every  type  of  special  affection  or 
particular  friendship  for  a pupil,  and  they  must  remember  that 
the  error  of  one  individual  may  compromise  the  reputation  of  the 
whole  institution.  Therefore,  the  pupils  are  never  to  be  left  to 
themselves.  The  assistants  are  to  be  present  at  the  place  of  assem- 


57 


bly  before  their  pupils.  Never  are  the  pupils  to  be  left  without 
some  occupation. 

Don  Bosco  granted  his  pupils  the  greatest  possible  freedom.  He 
wished  that  they  should  be  able  to  run,  jump  and  shout  accord- 
ing to  their  heart’s  desire.  Athletics,  music,  recitals,  games  and 
long  walks  were  to  be  not  merely  effective  means  of  retaining  dis- 
cipline, but  they  were  also  to  serve  purposes  of  morality  and  health. 
In  this  connection,  however,  he  laid  a special  stress  upon  the  neces- 
sity of  watching  diligently  that  neither  the  entertainment,  nor  the 
persons  attending,  nor  the  speeches  made  should  present  anything 
objectionable.  As  his  model,  he  quoted  the  great  friend  of  youth, 
St.  Philip  Neri,  and  his  well-known  saying:  “Do  whatever  you 
like,  only  don’t  commit  a sin.” 

Important  means  in  the  educational  process  according  to  Don 
Bosco,  are  frequent  confession  and  communion  and  the  daily  mass. 
He  calls  them  the  pillars  which  must  support  an  educational  insti- 
tution, if  threats  and  whips  are  to  be  kept  away.  The  boys  are 
never  to  be  forced  to  the  frequent  reception  of  the  Sacraments. 
They  should  only  be  encouraged  and  attracted  thereto  by  making 
it  easy  and  convenient  for  them  to  receive.  In  their  retreats, 
triduums,  novenas,  sermons  and  instructions  the  children  should 
be  shown  the  beauty,  majesty  and  holiness  of  their  religion  which 
offers  the  sacraments  to  them  as  easy,  convenient  and  highly  use- 
ful means  of  gaining  true  peace  of  heart  and  the  salvation  of 
their  souls.  In  this  manner  the  children  can  be  led  without  con- 
straint to  these  exercises  of  piety,  and  they  will  gladly  and  with 
great  profit  throng  to  the  Sacraments.  The  greatest  care  must 
be  taken  to  exclude  from  the  Institution,  all  bad  companions,  all 
evil  books  and  all  persons  using  profane  language.  A good  door- 
keeper, therefore,  is  a real  treasure  for  a house  of  education. 

Every  evening,  after  the  usual  prayers  and  before  the  children 
retire,  the  Director  should  address  them  with  a few  affectionate 
words,  and  he  should  exhort  them  regarding  the  doing  of  some 
particular  good  action  or  the  avoiding  of  some  fault.  He  is  to 
choose  his  subject  from  the  events  of  the  day,  be  it  from  within  or 
from  without  the  Institute.  The  address,  however,  is  not  to  last 
more  than  two  or  three  minutes.  In  this  exercise  Don  Bosco  saw 
a key  to  good  morals,  to  progress  and  success  in  training. 

Don  Bosco  also  wished  that  the  children,  soon  after  attaining 


58 


the  use  of  reason,  should  approach  the  table  of  the  Lord.  His 
directions  in  this  matter  seem  almost  like  an  anticipation  of  the 
decree  of  Pius  X regarding  the  early  admission  of  children  to  first 
Communion.  One  only  needs  to  read  the  following  words  from 
his  Regolamento : “ To  be  shunned  like  a pestilence  is  the  opinion 
of  those  who  want  to  postpone  the  first  Communion  to  a far  ad- 
vanced age  when  the  evil  spirit  has  already  taken  possession  of  the 
heart  of  a boy,  thus  doing  an  incalculable  damage  to  his  innocence. 
In  the  early  Church  it  was  the  custom  to  give  after  the  Easter 
Communion  the  remaining  consecrated  hosts  to  the  little  children. 
This  shows  how  the  Church  loved  to  lead  the  children  to  Holy 
Communion  at  an  early  age.  When  a child  knows  how  to  dis- 
tinguish between  bread  and  bread  and  when  he  shows  himself  suffi- 
ciently instructed,  we  should  not  worry  about  his  age,  but  should 
let  the  heavenly  guest  come  to  take  possession  of  this  blessed  soul.” 

Don  Bosco  then  points  out  that  the  Catechism  recommends  fre- 
quent communion,  and  that  St.  Philip  Neri  advised  his  penitents 
to  receive  every  week  and,  if  possible,  oftener.  The  Council  of 
Trent  also  clearly  states  its  desire  that  all  the  faithful  should  as 
often  as  they  assisted  at  Holy  Mass  also  receive  Holy  Communion 
. . . and  this  was  to  be  understood  not  only  of  the  spiritual,  but 
of  the  Sacramental  Communion,  so  that  the  profit  of  this  august 
Divine  Sacrifice  might  be  increased  (Cone.  Trid.  sess.  XXII, 
cap.  6). 

It  seems  that  Don  Bosco  met  with  a good  deal  of  opposition  in 
his  advocacy  of  the  preventive  system.  The  chief  objection  was 
probably  that  it  was  too  difficult  to  carry  out  in  practice.  He 
refuted  this  objection  and  opposed  it  with  the  statement  that  this 
method  was  for  the  pupils  the  easiest,  most  satisfactory  and  most 
profitable  one.  On  the  other  hand,  he  also  admitted  that  it  pre- 
sented some  difficulties  for  the  teacher  which,  however,  could  easily 
be  overcome  if  he  applied  himself  zealously  to  his  task.  Don  Bosco 
made  great  demands  upon  the  teacher.  His  conception  of  an  edu- 
cator demanded  a personality  wholly  and  entirely  devoted  to  the 
-welfare  of  his  proteges.  He,  therefore,  must  be  ready  to  shoulder 
any  burden  and  to  undergo  any  trouble  in  order  to  realize  his 
object : the  civil,  scientific,  and  moral  training  of  his  pupils. 

To  recommend  his  system,  Don  Bosco  pointed  out  especially  the 
three  following  advantages: 


59 


1)  The  pupil  will  always  retain  a feeling  of  respect  for  his 
teacher.  He  will  always  remember  with  pleasure  the  direction 
received,  and  will  even  long  afterwards  regard  his  masters  and 
the  other  superiors  as  his  fathers  and  brothers.  Thus  these  pupils 
in  most  cases  become  the  solace  of  their  family,  useful  citizens  and 
good  Christians. 

2)  Whatever  may  have  been  the  character,  the  sentiments  and 
the  moral  condition  of  a pupil  at  the  time  of  his  reception,  the 
parents  may  rest  assured  that  their  son  will  not  become  worse,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  some  improvement  will  be  achieved.  Many  chil- 
dren, who  for  a long  time  had  been  the  scourge  of  their  family 
and  finally  became  wards  of  a house  of  correction,  have  changed 
their  hearts  and  their  characters,  when  they  were  treated  according 
to  the  principles  of  the  preventive  system;  they  occupy  today  hon- 
orable positions  and  have  become  the  support  of  their  family  and 
the  pride  of  their  country. 

3)  Those  pupils  who  by  chance  enter  the  institute  with  evil 
habits  cannot  harm  their  companions.  No  harm  can  come  to  the 
good  boys  through  them,  because  they  will  not  be  allowed  time,  or 
place,  or  opportunity  for  it,  since  the  assistant  whose  presence  is 
always  presupposed  would  soon  correct  the  matter. 

More  briefly,  but  even  more  clearly,  did  Don  Bosco  express  him- 
self regarding  the  preventive  system  in  a conversation  with  the 
Minister  Ratazzi.2  After  he  had  shown  that  there  were  two  edu- 
cational systems,  the  repressive  and  the  preventive,  he  gave  this 
further  explanation  of  the  two  as  he  conceived  them : “ The  re- 
pressive system,”  he  says,  “ proposes  as  its  task  to  educate  a 
man  by  force  through  censure  and  punishment,  when  he  has 
transgressed  the  law  and  committed  a crime.  The  preventive 
system,  on  the  other  hand,  seeks  to  educate  through  love  and  mildly 
assists  man  in  observing  the  law  by  offering  him  the  best  and  most 
effective  means.  With  this  method  there  is  instilled  into  the  heart 
of  the  child  above  all  else  the  holy  fear  of  God.  Love  of  virtue 
and  hatred  of  vice  are  inculcated  through  Christian  doctrine  and 
proper  instruction.  Through  suitable  and  well-meaning  counsels, 
and,  especially  through  practices  of  piety  and  religion,  they  are  then 
brought  upon  the  path  of  virtue  and  kept  there.  Besides  this  they 


2 (1854)  Lemoyne,  Vita,  II,  p.  272. 


60 


are  surrounded  as  much  as  possible  with  affectionate  care  at  their 
recreation,  in  school  and  at  their  work.  They  are  encouraged  by 
words  of  benevolence,  and  if  at  times  they  forget  their  duties,  they 
are  reminded  of  them  in  an  appealing  way  and  thus  brought  back 
to  a better  insight.  In  a word,  all  the  means  counselled  by  Chris- 
tian charity  are  used  to  bring  the  children  to  do  good  and  to  avoid 
evil  guided  by  a conscience  which  is  illumined  and  supported  by 
religion.”  3 


Bonetti,  Cinque  Lustri,  p.  483. 


CHAPTER  10 


SPIRITUAL,  MORAL  AND  EDUCATIONAL  ASPECTS 

Among  all  the  means  which  Don  Bosco  used  in  education,  by 
far  the  most  important  is  religion.  Even  at  the  Sunday-Oratories 
so  great  a part  of  the  time  was  given  to  religious  exercises  that  one 
might  feel  inclined  to  think  that  Don  Bosco  required  more  than 
might  be  justified.  On  the  other  hand,  the  continual  increase  in 
the  number  of  those  coming  to  the  Oratory  from  all  quarters 
showed  that  the  time  given  to  religious  exercises  was  not  considered 
excessive  by  his  auditors,  especially  since  Don  Bosco  knew  how  to 
make  them  always  attractive  and  entertaining. 

In  the  institutions,  the  whole  life  of  the  community  came  under 
the  influence  of  religion.  Don  Bosco  taught  the  children  to  offer 
the  first  moment  of  the  day  to  God.  After  the  morning  prayer  all 
assisted  at  Holy  Mass  during  which,  besides  other  prayers,  the 
rosary  was  to  be  recited.  At  every  Mass  the  children  were  to  have 
an  opportunity  for  confession  and  communion.  Every  task  during 
the  day  was  to  be  begun  and  ended  with  prayer.  Special  value  was 
placed  upon  an  occasional  visit,  some  time  during  the  day,  to  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  No  day  was  to  pass  without  spiritual  reading. 
To  avoid  distractions  during  the  sermons,  these  were  to  be  short, 
practical  and  rich  in  illustrations.  Don  Bosco  admonished  the 
children  never  to  leave  after  a sermon  without  having  made  some 
firm  resolution  which  could  be  carried  out  during  the  occupation 
which  followed.  He  also  considered  the  short  address,  given  in  the 
evening  just  before  retiring,  of  great  importance.  Evening  prayers 
in  common  concluded  the  day. 

Monthly  pious  exercises,  such  as  the  exercise  of  a holy  death  on 
the  first  Sunday  of  each  month,  the  solemn  celebration  of  the  feasts 
of  the  Church,  processions  and  the  like,  were  used  by  Don  Bosco 
to  accustom  the  children  to  the  frequent  reception  of  the  Sacra- 
ments and  to  inspire  them  with  renewed  zeal.  Frequent  confession 
and  communion  were  in  his  eyes  probably  the  most  important  of 
all  the  factors  of  education.  In  spite  of  this,  probably  just  because 
of  this,  he  did  not  want  to  see  constraint  used  under  any  circum- 
stances. In  order  that  the  children,  in  receiving  the  Sacrameots, 
5 61 


62 


might  obtain  their  full  benefit,  he  urged  them  to  select  a constant 
confessor  to  whom  they  might  reveal  every  corner  of  their  heart. 

In  order  to  keep  alive  the  zeal  of  the  children,  and  in  a sense  to 
organize  the  exercise  of  their  good  works,  he  established  several 
fraternities,  for  example,  the  fraternity  of  St.  Aloysius,  and  the 
Sodality  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  in  the  latter  of  which  only 
the  best  and  most  deserving  boys  could  be  received.  For  the  St. 
Aloysius  fraternity  he  himself  drafted  the  constitutions,  in  which 
he  urged  upon  the  members  chiefly  frequent  communion,  the  avoid- 
ing of  evil  companions,  mutual  encouragement  to  piety,  a zeal  for 
duty,  obedience  towards  parents  and  superiors,  and  the  practice 
of  charity  towards  neighbors. 

By  teaching  and  example  he  sought  to  awaken  and  to  cultivate 
in  his  proteges  a love  of  prayer;  he  warned  them  against  listless 
or  inattentive  prayer,  saying  it  would  be  better  not  to  pray  at  all 
than  to  pray  poorly.  He  also  warned  them  of  “ too  much  prayer  ” ; 
they  should  not  take  up  new  devotions  without  the  permission  of 
their  father  confessor  and  should  go  by  the  words  of  St.  Philip 
Neri:  “Non  vi  caricate  di  troppo  divozioni,  ma  siate  perseveranti 
in  quelle  que  avete  prese.”  The  importance  attached  by  Don  Bosco 
to  the  religious  life,  as  a factor  of  education,  is  evident  also  from 
the  fact  that  he  added  to  his  Regolamento  a special  chapter  about 
conduct  in  the  house  of  God,  that  he  appointed  a special  catechist 
to  supervise  the  religious  exercises  of  the  students  and  that  he 
specified  at  length  in  the  Regolamento  the  duties  of  this  office. 

Besides  religion,  the  conscientious  supervision  of  the  children 
forms  a second  chief  factor  in  education  in  Don  Bosco’s  system. 
The  preventive  system  demands  that  the  child  be  reminded  and 
warned  in  time  of  the  possible  transgression  of  the  rule  before  the 
wrong  has  been  committed.  This  presupposes  a proper  supervision 
at  all  times  and  in  every  place;  Don  Bosco,  therefore,  in  logical 
agreement  with  the  Regolamento , established  such  permanent  and 
official  supervision  in  all  his  institutions. 

In  the  morning,  the  children  are  led  from  the  dormitory  into 
the  church,  from  the  church  to  the  refectory,  from  there  to  the 
schoolrooms  and  work  shops.  In  the  church,  the  catechist  and  his 
assistants  have  to  do  the  supervising;  in  the  school,  they  are  re- 
ceived by  the  prefect  of  studies;  he  has  a decurione  and  a vice- 
decurione  in  every  bench  to  assist  him  in  the  supervision.  In  the 


63 


work  shop,  there  is  in  the  first  place  the  master;  the  real  super- 
vision, however,  lies  in  the  hands  of  a special  assistant.  During 
recreation  time  one  supervisor  naturally  is  not  enough,  and  a cer- 
tain number  of  others  are  called  upon  to  assist,  so  that  the  super- 
vision may  be  perfect  even  if  exercised  only  under  the  form  of 
joining  in  the  games  and  taking  part  in  the  entertaining. 

No  one  of  the  assistants  is  allowed  to  leave  his  post  without 
having  some  one  to  take  his  place.  Other  prefects,  such  as  the 
Catechist,  have  to  see  to  it  that  the  assistants  are  always  punctual 
and  at  their  places. 

The  door-keeper  is  under  obligation  to  refuse  exit  to  every  one 
who  cannot  show  a permit  to  leave  on  which  are  written  the  hour 
of  his  going,  and  the  hour  of  his  return. 

Permission  to  go  out  with  relatives  or  friends,  either  for  a meal, 
or  for  the  buying  of  clothes,  is  never  to  be  given  to  any  pupil. 

At  first  glance,  the  supervision  may  appear  as  overdone,  but  in 
judging,  one  should  not  forget  that  this  supervision  is  not  that 
of  a policeman,  but  of  good  friends  and  older  brothers  who  desire 
only  the  welfare  and  the  inner  contentment  of  their  proteges  and 
who  seek  to  accomplish  this  in  the  friendliest  manner.  In  any  case, 
there  is  required  on  the  part  of  the  supervisors,  if  their  work  is  to 
have  the  desired  result  and  to  bring  happiness  to  the  children,  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  human  nature,  a keen  psychological  sense 
and  understanding,  a fine  personal  tactfulness  and  above  all  an 
untiring  love.  Don  Bosco  seems  to  have  been  successful  in  ob- 
taining this.  His  former  pupil  and  later  biographer,  J.  B. 
Francesia,  is  a trustworthy  witness  in  this  matter.  Regarding  it 
he  expresses  himself  in  the  following  words : “ Life  in  the  Oratory 
was  all  joy.  We  did  not  know  how  to  think  of  it  in  any  other  way 
than  as  our  home  and  to  seek  all  our  pride  in  it.” 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  Don  Bosco,  who  had  learned  from  his 
earliest  youth  the  blessings  of  labor,  would  adopt  it  as  an  impor- 
tant means  in  the  education  of  his  children.  In  order  to  awaken 
and  cultivate  in  all  the  proper  spirit  of  labor,  he  used  chiefly  two 
expedients : instruction  and  habituation. 

His  Regolamento  contains  a special  chapter  on  labor  in  which 
he  tries  to  explain  to  his  children  the  concept  of  labor,  to  interpret 
for  them  its  obligation  in  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  to  bring 
home  to  them  its  value  and  its  blessings.  In  strong  outline,  he 


64 


draws  for  them  the  evil  consequences  that  come  to  those  who  allow 
the  time  of  youth,  life’s  spring  time,  to  pass  by  unprofitably.  He 
calls  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  order  to  obey  the  law  of 
labor,  it  is  not  sufficient  merely  to  keep  oneself  occupied,  but  that 
the  proper  order  must  be  maintained  in  one’s  occupations.  Always 
first  must  come  those  tasks  of  labor  which  duty  and  obedience  place 
upon  us,  and  afterwards  those  which  suit  our  own  wishes  and  tastes. 
In  sharp  words  he  rebukes  the  idler,  whom  he  calls  a thief  stealing 
from  God  and  from  man.  Against  idling  Don  Bosco  strove  ener- 
getically. In  various  sections  of  the  Regolamento , he  reiterates  the 
rule  that  the  children  must  never  for  a moment  be  left  without 
some  occupation.  For  instance,  the  masters  of  the  work  shops  have 
to  be  at  their  places  early,  so  that  the  work  for  the  pupils  may  be 
ready  on  their  arrival  and  they  can  go  immediately  to  their  tasks. 
The  assistants  in  the  work  shops,  and  in  the  school  rooms,  have  to 
see  to1  it  that  none  of  the  boys  idle  around  or  interfere  "with  the 
work  of  others. 

Don  Bosco  wanted  not  only  work,  but  good  work.  u Students 
who  are  not  studious  and  who  do  not  improve  after  a suitable 
warning  are  changed  to  another  task  or  sent  back  to  their  parents  ” 
( Regolamento , Parte  II,  capo  YI,  19).  Any  kind  of  work,  includ- 
ing mental  work,  must  be  done  in  a serious  and  not  in  a trifling 
manner.  That  Don  Bosco  should  have  been  inexorable  and  severe 
in  this  regard,  and  that  he  would  allow  no  half-heartedness  was  to 
be  expected,  if  one  remembers  how  much  he  demanded  of  the  boys 
at  the  time  when  he  still  taught  personally.  Of  the  mechanics  he 
demanded  “ great  attention  and  great  industry  in  the  fulfilment  of 
their  duties  and  in  the  learning  of  the  particular  trade  which  is 
to  support  them  in  life”  ( Regolamento , Parte  II,  Capo  VII,  3). 

In  order  that  the  boys  might  become  familiar  with  the  material 
profit  of  labor,  he  decided  that  on  every  Sunday  they  should  receive 
four  soldi,  and  that  upon  their  leaving  the  Institute  one-third  of 
their  earnings  should  be  paid  them  as  their  savings. 

Don  Bosco  seems  to  have  been  remarkably  able  to  impress  upon 
the  boys  the  truth  that  labor,  of  whatever  type  it  may  be,  whether 
physical  or  mental,  ennobles  man.  In  no  other  way  can  the  fact 
be  explained  that  among  the  two  classes  of  pupils,  the  mechanics 
and  the  students,  there  ruled  complete  unity  and  love  without  a 
trace  of  jealousy  or  envy.  The  path  from  the  workshop  to  the 


65 


school  room  was  open  to  every  boy;  the  only  thing  demanded  was 
that  he  should  live  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  school.  It  may 
have  happened  many  a time,  that  some  one  who  had  learned  by 
experience  that  mental  work  also  has  its  troubles  and  hardships, 
returned  again  gladly  and  contentedly  to  his  place  in  the  workshop. 

Although  Don  Bosco  was  intent  upon  accustoming  the  children 
to  labor  and  to  a serious  fulfilment  of  duty,  he  also  knew  quite 
well  that  a bow  should  not  always  remain  bent,  lest  ib  might  be 
broken;  it  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  learn  that  he  provided 
with  equal  care  for  the  recreation  of  the  children.  Recreation  was 
to  him,  however,  not  merely  a means  to  refresh  the  children’s  mind 
and  their  elasticity:  he  considered  it  also  as  a very  effective  and 
immediate  means  of  education. 

In  his  short  dissertation  on  the  preventive  system  he  speaks  of 
two  kinds  of  recreation,  physical  and  mental.  “ Full  liberty  should 
be  given  to  the  children  to  jump  and  run  and  shout  and  be  noisy 
as  much  as  they  like.  Athletics,  music,  recitations,  theatrical  enter- 
tainments and  walks  are  means  which  help  to  preserve  the  dis- 
cipline and  which  are  of  profit  to  morality  and  health.”  With 
regard  to  bodily  recreation  and  running  games,  Don  Bosco  stresses, 
as  is  shown  in  the  above  words  especially,  the  full  freedom  of  play. 
The  children  are  not  only  to  jump  and  run  and  shout,  but  they  are 
also  to  do  this  as  much  as  they  like.  The  great  esteem  which  he 
placed  upon  this  hale,  hearty  and  informal  playing  is  seen  best, 
when  we  look  at  him,  the  man  overloaded  with  work,  who  had  to 
use  his  nights  to  finish  up  the  work  of  the  day,  in  the  midst  of  a 
group  of  playing  and  shouting  children,  arranging  the  apparatus 
for  their  gymnastics,  starting  new  games  and  even  taking  an  active 
part  in  them.  D’Espiney  writes  expressly : “ II  fut  un  temps,  ou 
Don  Bosco  lui-meme  nex  dedaignait  pas  de  tenir  sa  place  dans 
quelques  superbe  partie  de  barres  ou  de  ballons,  et  cette  tradition 
s’est  soigneusement  conservee.” 

His  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  free  and  untrammeled  play 
was  such  that  he  would  wander  from  place  to  place  with  his  newly 
organized  oratory,  and  finally  be  without  a home  rather  than  limit 
the  freedom  of  the  children.  And  when,  at  times,  overzealous  in 
their  war  games,  they  did  run  beyond  the  limits  of  their  playground 
and  trampled  through  Mamma  Margherita’s  cabbage  patch,  he  knew 
how  to  make  allowance  for  the  heat  of  the  battle,  and  to  apologize 


66 


to  Mamma  Margherita  for  the  culprits  who  became  conscience- 
stricken  at  the  sight  of  the  destruction  wrought. 

During  the  time  when  he  still  taught  his  students  himself  he 
took  a long  walk  with  them  regularly,  two  or  three  times  a week. 
He  also  liked  to  take  out  the  members  of  the  Sunday-oratory,  not 
just  rambling,  but  always  with  a definite  goal,  either  a place  of 
pilgrimage  or  some  place  of  historical  interest.  Great  rejoicing 
naturally  occurred  each  time  that  he  would  lead  his  proteges  to  a 
pastor’s  house  where  they  were  hospitably  treated  with  refreshments. 

In  his  regulations  he  lays  down  for  ordinary  walks  a time  limit 
of  one  and  a half  to  two  hours.  He  regulates  also  the  conduct  of 
the  pupils  and  the  duties  of  the  accompanying  assistants.  Not 
only  the  behavior  of  the  pupils  must  be  correct  but  the  external 
appearance  in  dress  and  gait  must  also  be  blameless.  The  rules 
seem  rather  severe.  He  who  leaves  his  place  in  the  line  is  guilty 
of  a grave  breach  of  discipline;  and  he  who  goes  to  buy  anything, 
or  enters  a sweet  shop,  or  a restaurant,  deserves  expulsion  from  the 
Institution. 

The  theater  in  Don  Bosco’s  view  holds  an  important  place  in 
education,  when  its  aim  is  to  amuse,  to  instruct  and  to  educate. 
In  order  that  the  theatrical  plays  may  gain  this  end,  they  must 
deal  with  suitable  subjects  and  everything  which  might  suggest 
evil  habits  must  be  excluded.  Since  he  feared  that  mistakes  in 
selecting  might  be  harmful,  he  gives  some  excellent  directions  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the  Regolamento  regarding  the  choice 
of  plays.  The  material  must  be  selected  with  respect  to  the  pupils 
and  not  with  respect  to  individual  members  of  the  audience.  They 
will  be  pleased  when  they  see  that  the  entertainment  was  profitable 
to  the  pupils  and  suited  to  their  understanding.  Tragedies, 
comedies  or  farces,  in  which  a cruel  or  revengeful  or  immoral  char- 
acter is  vividly  portrayed  must  be  excluded,  even  if  in  the  course 
of  the  play  the  purpose  of  amendment  or  final  punishment  is  clearly 
expressed.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  vividly  portrayed 
scenes  are  deeply  impressed  on  the  minds  of  children,  and  that  this 
impression  can  only  with  difficulty  be  counteracted  by  abstract 
reasoning  and  counter-demonstrations.  No  duels,  therefore,  and 
no  shootings,  violent  threats  or  savage  behavior  are  to  be  tolerated 
in  the  plays. 

The  things  to  be  preferred  are  selected  portions  from  good 


67 


authors,  poetry  or  prose,  fables  and  amusing  sketches  as  many  as 
desired,  so  long  as  they  are  not  immoral.  Yocal  and  instrumental 
music,  solos,  duets,  trios  and  the  like  and  choral  pieces  are  to  be 
so  chosen  that  they  may  help  to  entertain  and  at  the  same  time 
educate  morally.  How  much  he  was  concerned  about  this  phase 
of  his  work  is  seen  in  his  establishing  for  his  institutions  the  office 
of  a theatre-prefect  for  whom  explicit  regulations  were  laid  down. 
So  important  did  this  office  seem  to  him  that  the  rules  which  he 
laid  down  for  it  are  exceeded  in  number  and  length  only  by  those 
for  the  director  of  the  house,  the  prefect  of  studies  and  the  catechist. 


CHAPTER  11 


DON  BOSCO’S  SPECIAL  METHODS 

Don  Bosco  who  was  a master  in  the  art  of  training,  seems  to 
have  been  equally  gifted  with  an  extraordinary  talent  for  instruc- 
tion. He  had  never  received  a theoretical  preparation  of  any  sort 
tor  the  teaching  profession ; the  surprising  results  which  he  achieved 
must,  therefore,  have  been  due  to  his  personal  skill  and  methods. 
His  biographer,  Ch.  D’Espiney,  maintains  that  he  had  a special 
method.  He  writes : “ Don  Bosco  has  found  a method  of  teaching 
so  simple  and  effective  that  since  his  time  it  has  been  copied  in 
many  colleges  and  educational  institutions.  He  used  special 
formulas,  which  prevented  all  confusion  and  by  which  the  most 
difficult  rules  were  impressed  upon  the  memory.  Young  men  of 
twenty  years,  who  were  hardly  able  to  read  or  write,  became,  after 
a few  years  of  study  under  his  guidance,  excellent  priests  with  a 
perfect  education.”  1 Even  if  the  words  “ perfect  education  ” must 
be  considered  as  covering  a very  elastic  and  relative  concept,  and  if 
we  have  to  make  due  allowance  for  the  enthusiasm  for  Don  Bosco 
which  conceivably  may  have  influenced  D’Espiney’s  assertions,  we 
must  admit,  nevertheless,  that  Don  Bosco  by  his  methods  of  teach- 
ing attained  excellent  results. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  full  account  of  the  method  can  be 
found  anywhere.  We,  therefore,  have  to  confine  ourselves  to  occa- 
sional remarks  of  his  biographers  and  to  an  investigation  of  his 
teaching  career.  We  may  gain  a fair  impression  of  some  phases 
of  it  from  a description  by  D’Esqiney  of  the  training  of  Don  Bosco’s 
first  fellow  laborers.2  For  example,  in  teaching  Latin,  he  first 
explained  the  grammar  in  very  short  and  clear  sentences,  not  like 
a teacher,  but  as  a pupil,  as  a pupil,  however,  who  knows  his  lesson ; 
then  the  lesson  was  repeated  by  each  one  according  to  his  ability 
Don  Bosco  assisting  and  encouraging,  until  it  was  evident  that  the 
whole  lesson  had  been  understood  and  assimilated.  The  other  sub- 
jects were  treated  in  a similar  way.  Pupils,  who  at  the  beginning 
of  the  course  had  hardly  been  able  to  write  their  names,  were  thus 

1 D’Espiney,  Charles,  Don  Bosco,  Nice,  1891,  p.  69. 

2 D’Espiney,  Charles,  Don  Bosco,  p.  156. 

68 


69 


advanced  within  two  months  so  far  that  they  could  take  up  the 
elements  of  Latin. 

The  schedule  of  hours  to  which  Don  Bosco  strictly  held  his 
pupils,  shows  that  he  wasted  no  moment  which  could  be  devoted 
to  study.  The  hour  for  rising  for  every  one  was  4.30  o’clock.  The 
first  hours  of  the  day  were  given  over  to  meditation,  Mass  and 
Communion.  Then  classes  began.  At  8 o’clock  there  was  break- 
fast, followed  by  recreation  until  9 o’clock,  classes  again  until  noon; 
after  two  hours’  intermission  they  continued  till  evening.  In  order 
to  provide  the  necessary  variety,  Don  Bosco  had  the  classes  of 
theoretical  teaching  followed  as  often  as  possible  by  practical  exer- 
cises. In  consideration  of  the  health  of  his  pupils,  as  mentioned 
above,  he  took  a walk  with  them  three  times  a week  from  4 to  7 
o’clock.  But  even  here  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  his  aim ; during  the 
walks,  he  again  and  again  returned  to  the  subjects  treated  in  the 
classes,  not  so  much  by  giving  the  pupils  new  explanations  as  by 
making  them  repeat  and  explain  to  him  all  the  things  which  he 
had  discussed  with  them  during  the  day.  So  also  at  the  meals,  the 
subject  of  conversation  was  always  their  studies.  There  was,  as 
D’Espiney  humorously  remarks,  no  lack  of  variety : “ We  spoke 
alternately  about  declensions  and  conjugations  and  then  about  con- 
jugations and  declensions.”  3 With  this  tenacity  and  fixed  deter- 
mination, Don  Bosco  succeeded  in  bringing  the  pupils  so  far  that 
at  the  end  of  the  school  year  they  could  pass  their  examinations, 
and  then  after  vacation  be  transferred  to  the  philosophy  class. 

According  to  D’Espiney’s  complete  description,  the  teaching  of 
Don  Bosco  seems  to  have  been  distinguished  in  three  ways:  1)  he 
gave  his  pupils  only  short  lessons  to  be  mastered,  2)  he  always 
concentrated  his  whole  activity  upon  only  one  subject,  first  Italian 
grammar,  then  Latin,  or  mathematics,  and  3)  he  reviewed  inces- 
santly and  under  the  most  varied  forms.  His  method  seems,  there- 
fore, to  have  coincided  with  that  which  ordinarily  is  called  “ drill- 
ing.” However  little  this  method  may  be  suited  for  ordinary 
teaching,  there  is  no  doubt  that  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
Don  Bosco  labored,  it  was  clearly  the  best.  The  fact  that  he  chose 
it  proves  his  independence  in  judgment  and  eminently  practical 
6ense. 

Other  narratives  which  we  find  in  his  biographies  tell  us  of  a 


• D’Espiney,  Don  Bosco,  p.  159. 


70 


surprising  skill  in  vivid  portrayal  of  his  subject  matter.  During 
the  walks  he  loved  to  speak  to  his  pupils  about  facts  of  natural 
history.  Or,  if  the  goal  of  the  walk  was  some  place  of  historical 
interest,  he  used  the  occasion  to  picture  the  particular  historical 
incident  with  much  detail  and  in  a vivid  and  graphic  manner. 
During  the  war  of  1848,  he  made  his  children  study  the  maps  and 
hunt  up  the  battle  fields  upon  them.  The  natural  dryness  of  the 
metrical  system  was  conquered  by  making  it  the  theme  of  a little 
play  which  the  children  gave  on  the  stage.  From  all  this  it  seems 
to  be  clear  that  Don  Bosco  followed  no  rigidly  circumscribed 
method  of  teaching;  he  was  rather  guided,  during  his  whole  teach- 
ing activity  at  every  individual  emergency  by  his  good  common 
sense.  With  a delicate  psychological  instinct,  he  knew  how  to 
find  the  right  path  and  to  follow  it  assiduously  and  energetically, 
until  he  reached  his  goal.  This  excludes  his  dependence  upon  any 
particular  method  and  is  the  best  praise  that  can  be  given  to  a 
practical  educator. 

Little  is  to  be  said  about  the  subjects  taught  since  the  regulations 
for  the  public  schools  applied  also  to  those  of  Don  Bosco.  He 
insisted,  however,  that  a special  value  should  be  given  to  the  mother 
tongue,  that  the  grammar  should  be  studied  thoroughly,  and  that 
the  Italian  classics  should  be  taken  up  seriously.  He  also  en- 
deavored to  make  as  many  children  as  possible  learn  the  French 
language.  In  the  Latin  class  he  would  give  to  the  Christian  classics 
a preference  over  the  pagan  ones.  Latin  and  the  Humanistic 
studies  were  to  be  specially  cultivated.  The  time  given  to  music, 
instrumental  and  vocal,  was  more  than  was  customary  in  other 
places.  This  is  still  a feature  in  all  Salesian  institutions. 

Regarding  the  teaching  staff,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Don  Bosco 
would  employ  only  good  and  fully  trained  teachers.  He,  therefore, 
made  his  candidate  take  the  state  examination,  and  he  always  sent 
some  of  them  to  attend  lectures  at  the  University.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  observed  that  the  chief  reason  for  this  compliance  with  the 
demands  of  the  state  was  to  avoid  all  possibility  of  conflict.  The 
rules  laid  down  by  Don  Bosco  in  his  Regolamento  for  his  teachers 
show  his  lively  interest  in  their  efficiency  and  continued  improve- 
ment. For  the  supervision  of  their  work  he  appointed  a Consig- 
liere  scolastico  who,  without  having  to  teach  himself,  supervised 
and  decided  on  all  school  questions. 


SURVEY  AND  CONCLUSION 


It  remains. now  for  us  in  reviewing  the  life  and  work  of  Don 
Bosco  to  raise  a few  questions  which  can  best  be  answered  at  this 
point  of  our  study. 

The  first  question  is  whether  or  not  Don  Bosco  can  be  said  to 
have  an  educational  and  teaching  system  of  his  own.  This  question 
will  be  answered  by  many  of  his  admirers  in  the  affirmative,  but 
without  sufficient  reason.  Don  Bosco  himself,  as  is  clear  from  what 
little  material  we  have  to  base  a judgment  on,  never  claimed  to 
have  created  a method  of  his  own.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  Rego- 
lamento  he  expressly  states  that  both  systems,  the  repressive  and 
the  preventive,  had  always  been  in  use.  And  in  his  conversation 
with  Ratazzi  he  reminds  him  of  the  fact  that  two  systems  are  in 
existence,  he,  therefore,  presupposes  them  as  common  property  and 
well  known.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  one  point  in  the  whole  edu- 
cational system  of  Don  Bosco  which  had  not  already  been  known 
and  practiced  long  before  him,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  educational 
system  of  the  Jesuits.1  The  idea  of  prevention  as  the  first  means 
of  education  is  obvious  in  every  good  system  of  education,  wherever, 
and  by  whomsoever  it  may  have  been  employed.  This  is  so  self- 
evident  that  the  concept  of  a purely  repressive  system  has  probably 
never  been  translated  into  reality.  That  religion,  work,  play  and 
supervision  should  be  used  as  means  of  education  is  likewise  so 
natural,  that  it  would  probably  be  difficult  to  find  a single  institu- 
tion which  would  entirely  disregard  these  means.  Neither  was  it  a 
new  idea  that  all  education  must  be  based  upon  love.  One  need 
only  point  to  Vittorino  da  Feltre,  to  whom  as  to  Don  Bosco,  edu- 
cation meant  nothing  more  than  love  translated  into  practice.  And 
even  if  we  view  the  work  of  Don  Bosco  as  a whole,  we  can  find  in 
preceding  times  surprising  parallels.  The  most  remarkable  is 
probably  the  life  work  of  Johannes  Daniel  Falk  (1768-1826),  who 
labored  in  the  same  field,  in  the  same  manner  and  in  the  same 
spirit  as  Don  Bosco.2  We,  therefore,  can  not  very  well  speak  of  the 

1 Cfr.  Schwickerath,  S.  J.,  Robert,  Jesuit  Education,  its  History  and 
Principles.  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  1903. 

2 On  Falk  compare  article  “ Falk  ” by  Karl  Konig  in  Rein,  Encyklo- 
padisches  Handbuch,  Langensalza,  1904. 


71 


72 


method  of  Don  Bosco  as  new,  even  if  we  consider  his  work  as 
pioneer  work.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  said  that  his  work 
was  by  no  means  a mere  imitation  of  the  ideas  and  systems  of 
others.  There  can  be  no  question,  but  that  Don  Bosco  never  heard 
anything  about  Falk.  Don  Bosco  had  never  received  any  theoretical 
training  in  his  educational  profession,  and  it  is  doubtful,  if  he  pos- 
sessed more  than  an  elementary  knowledge  of  the  history  of  educa- 
tion. It  is  even  doubtful,  if  he  knew  of  the  pedagogical  principles 
of  his  famous  countryman,  Yittorino  da  Feltre.  At  least  he  never  so 
much  as  referred  to  him.  It  is  true  that  Don  Bosco,  while  teaching 
at  the  Jesuit  college  at  Montaldo  during  his  summer  vacation  in 
1836,  must  needs  have  observed  the  educational  methods  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Jesuit  Fathers;  however,  he  could  hardly  have  had  an 
opportunity  to  devote  himself  to  an  intensive  study  of  their  edu- 
cational principles  as  contained  for  instance  in  the  Ratio  Studi- 
orum  of  1599  and  1832.  If,  in  spite  of  this,  he  has  shown  so  many 
points  of  similarity  and  agreement  with  others,  the  reason  is  proba- 
bly to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  he  was  concerned  to  a great  extent 
with  things,  which  so  to  speak  were  in  the  air  and  had  been  assimi- 
lated unknowingly  into  the  universal  consciousness.  Credit  must 
nevertheless  be  given  to  Don  Bosco  for  having  translated  those 
ideas  into  action  and  into  a system  of  his  own,  and  for  having 
applied  them  so  masterly  to  the  particular  needs  of  his  pupils  and 
the  circumstances  of  his  time.  If  we  should  then  consider  it  as 
established  that  Don  Bosco  in  no  way  invented  a new  system,  that 
he  rather  recognized  certain  generally  known  ideas  and  principles 
and  their  educational  value  and  carried  them  out  consistently,  the 
question  still  remains : how  was  it  possible  that  he  should  have  met 
with  such  wonderful  success  ? And,  indeed,  Don  Bosco’s  success  was 
truly  startling.  He  was  successful  in  every  way  and  in  every  direc- 
tion; in  the  establishing  of  houses,  in  the  gathering  and  training 
of  his  fellow  laborers  of  different  degrees,  in  raising  enormous  funds 
for  his  educational  purposes  and,  finally,  in  the  education  itself 
of  the  children,  considered  both  in  its  breadth  and  in  its  depth. 
The  reason  for  this  success  must  be  sought  first  of  all  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  time.  The  age  in  which  Don  Bosco  lived  was  a 
turbulent  one,  politically  and  socially  distracted.  It  was  a time 
of  war  between  authority  and  rebellion,  between  conservatism  and 
liberalism.  It  was  a time  of  transition  in  which  the  existing  order 


73 


of  things  began  to  give  way  while  a new  one  had  not  as  yet  been 
created ; a time  in  which  a thousand  new  problems  appeared,  none 
of  which  could  be  solved  completely.  Such  a time  offers  to  a man 
who  is  active  and  determined  and  who  has  clear  and  independent 
ideas  the  opportunity  to  accomplish  great  things.  It  is  entirely  to 
Don  Bosco’s  credit  and  a sign  of  his  greatness  that  he  knew  how  to 
use  the  opportunities  of  his  time  to  such  advantage. 

A further  reason  for  his  unexampled  success  is  found  in  his 
eminent  psychological  talents.  With  him  there  was  no  petrified 
tradition,  no  iron  rules  from  which  deviation  was  forbidden.  He 
treated  neither  the  children  nor  the  adults  according  to  fixed  and 
rigid  schemes  or  formulas.  He  was  guided  in  every  thing  he  under- 
took, only  by  what  at  that  moment  he  recognized  as  the  proper  and 
most  effective  course.  If  any  educators  have  ever  possessed  and  used 
the  art  of  reading  men’s  characters,  Don  Bosco  was  one  of  them. 
His  psychological  insight  is  so  evident  that  no  words  need  be  lost 
to  prove  it ; it  is  only  necessary  to  glance  at  the  general  preliminary 
remarks  to  the  Regolamento ; they  are  only  a few  sentences,  but 
they  are,  in  spite  of  their  unadorned  simplicity,  or  perhaps  just  on 
that  account,  a really  admirable  document  of  his  sound  psycho- 
logical sense.  A man  with  such  psychological  genius  who  knows, 
as  Don  Bosco  did,  how  to  choose  the  right  moment  and  use  the 
right  means,  can  not  fail  of  success,  least  of  all  in  education  which 
in  a special  way  is  the  science  of  applied  psychology. 

It  would,  however,  not  be  right  to  overlook  a third  and  final  rea- 
son for  his  success.  And  this  is  his  energetic  spirit,  his  loyal  devo- 
tion to  a cause,  his  enthusiasm,  his  love  of  and  willingness  to 
undergo  sacrifice.  He  entirely  identified  himself  with  his  life’s 
task;  he  lived  and  died  for  it.  His  energetic  and  undivided  devo- 
tion to  his  cause  was  ingrained  in  his  very  nature,  through  birth 
and  training,  it  was  handed  to  him  as  a maternal  inheritance,  but 
its  deepest  cause  was  and  remained  his  unbounded  love  for  children. 
This  love  was  not  only  patient,  it  was  a burning  and  consuming 
fire  which  conquered  all  obstacles. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I.  Works  of  Don  Bosco  1 

A.  Biographies. 

Brevi  biografie  di  confratelli  salesiani  chiamati  da  Dio  alia  vita  eterna. 
Cenno  biografico  sul  giovanetto  Magone  Michele,  allievo  dell’Oratorio  di 
Francesco  di  Sales.  1912. 

II  Pastorello  delle  Alpi,  owero  vita  del  giovane  Besucco  Francesco.  8th 
edition. 

Letture  amene  ed  edificanti,  ossia  biografie  salesiane. 

Nuovi  cenni  sulla  vita  del  giovane  Luigi  Comollo,  morto  nel  Seminario  di 
Chieri  ammirato  da  tutti  per  le  sue  rare  virtu.  3rd  ed. 

II  Servo  di  Dio  Domenico  Savio.  1914. 

Vita  della  B.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  carmelitana  scalza  torinese.  3rd  ed. 
Vita  di  S.  Martino,  vescovo  di  Tours.  2nd  ed. 

Vita  di  S.  Paolo  Apostolo,  Dottore  delle  genti,  raccontata  al  popolo.  1899. 
Vita  di  S.  Pietro,  Principe  degli  Apostoli,  raccontata  al  popolo.  1899. 

B.  History. 

Le  vite  dei  Papi  dei  primi  tre  secoli.  1902-3. 

Storia  Ecclesiastioa  ad  uso  della  gioventu,  utile  ad  ogni  grado  di  persone. 
1913. 

C.  Novels. 

Angelina,  o l’Orfanella  degli  appennini.  3rd  ed. 

Novelle  e racconti  tratti  da  vari  autori  ad  uso  della  gioventu  coll’  aggiunta 
della  novella  amena  di  un  soldato  di  Napoleone  I.  5th  ed. 

Pietro,  o la  forza  della  buona  educazione.  3rd  ed. 

Severino,  ossia  l’awenture  di  un  giovane  alpigiano  raccontate  da  lui  mede- 
simo.  8th  ed. 

Valentino,  o la  vocazione  impedita.  Episodio  contemporaneo.  2nd  ed. 

D.  Dramas. 

La  casa  della  fortuna.  Rappresentazione  drammatica  in  due  atti.  1900. 
Luigi,  o disputa  tra  un  awocato  e un  ministro  protestante.  Dramma  in 
due  atti.  4th  ed. 


1 Practically  all  the  writings  of  Don  Bosco,  which  are  very  numerous, 
have  the  same  characteristic  features:  the  subject  is  mostly  of  historical 
nature,  the  object  intended  is  religious  instruction  and  edification,  the 
style  is  simple  and  pious.  It  will  thus  be  sufficient  to  list  only  part  of 
them  as  specimens  of  the  different  groups  into  which  his  writings,  more  or 
less  arbitrarily,  may  be  classified.  The  works  of  Don  Bosco  were  printed 

75 


76 


E.  Religious  Instruction. 

Conversazioni  tra  un  avvocato  ed  un  curato  di  campagna  sul  Sacramento 
della  Confessione.  4th  ed. 

I Concili  Generali  e la  Chiesa  Cattolica.  Conversazione  tra  un  parroco  ed 

un  giovane  parrocchiano. 

II  Cattolico  nel  secolo.  Trattenimenti  famigliari  di  un  padre  co’  suoi 

figliuoli  intorno  alia  Religione.  3rd  ed. 

II  Cristiano  guidato  alia  virth  ed  alia  civiltk  secondo  lo  spirito  di  S. 
Vincenzo  de’  Paoli. 

La  Chiave  del  Paradiso  in  mano  al  Cattolico  che  pratica  i doveri  di  un 
buon  cristiano. 

La  Chiesa  Cattolica  e la  sua  gerarchia.  2nd  ed. 

La  Storia  Sacra  ad  uso  delle  scuole  e specialmente  delle  classi  elementari 
secondo  il  programma  del  Ministero  della  Pubblica  Istruzione  utile 
ad  ogni  stato  di  persone.  1917. 

Luigi  Desanctis  e il  saggio  sulla  Confessione.  Contradizioni  e confronti. 
Portateco  cristiano,  owero  awisi  importanti.  3rd  ed. 

F.  Polemics. 

Due  conferenze  tra  due  ministri  protestanti  ed  un  prete  cattolico  sopra  il 
Purgatorio  ed  i sufragi  dei  defuncti,  con  appendice  sulle  liturgie. 
1892. 

Massimino,  o incontro  di  un  giovanetto  con  un  ministro  protestante  in 
Campidoglio.  1898. 

G.  Devotions. 

Apparizione  della  B.  V.  Maria  sulla  montagna  della  Salette,  con  altri  fatti 
prodigiosi  raccontati  da  pubblichi  documents 
Il  Giovane  proweduto  per  la  practica  dei  suoi  doveri  negli  esercizi  della 
cristiana  pietk,  etc.  438th  ed. 

Il  mese  di  Maggio,  consecrato  a Maria  SS.  Immacolata,  ad  uso  del  popolo. 
1910. 

La  Figlia  cristiana  proweduta  per  la  pratica  dei  suoi  doveri  negli  esercizi 
di  cristiana  pieta,  etc.  255th  ed. 

La  Nuvoletta  del  Carmelo,  ossia  la  divozione  a Maria  Ausiliatrice  pre- 
miata  di  nuove  grazie. 

Le  sei  Domeniche  e la  novena  in  onore  di  S.  Luigi  Gonzaga  colie  regole 
della  Compagnia  del  medesimo  Santo  e con  alcune  Lodi  Sacre.  1903. 
Manuale  degli  Ascritti  alia  Pia  Associazione  dei  divoti  di  Maria  Ausili- 
atrice. 16th  ed. 

Maraviglie  della  Madre  di  Dio  invocata  sotto  il  titolo  di  Maria  Ausilia- 
trice. 1905. 

Maria  Ausiliatrice,  con  il  racconto  di  alcune  grazie  ottenute  nel  primo 


at  Turin  and  have  gone  through  many  editions.  The  editions  specifically 
noted  below  were  those  at  the  writer’s  disposal. 


settennio  della  Consecrazione  ella  chiesa  a Lei  dedicata  in  Torino. 
1905. 

Nove  giorni  consecrati  all’  Augusta  Madre  del  Salvatore  sotto  il  titolo  di 
Maria  Ausiliatrice.  1915. 

Scelta  di  Laudi  Sacre  ad  uso  delle  missioni  e di  altre  opportunity  della 
chiesa.  1909. 

Xotizie  storiche  sul  Miracolo  del  SS.  Sacramento,  avvenuto  in  Torino  il  6 
Giugno  1453.  1903. 

Vita  di  S.  Giovanni  Battista,  raccontata  al  popolo.  4th  ed. 

Vita  di  S.  Giuseppe,  sposo  di  Maria  SS.  e padre  putativo  di  Gesu  Cristo 
raccolta  dai  pift  accreditati  autori,  colla  novena  in  preparazione 
alia  festa  del  Santo.  6th  ed. 

H.  Manuals  and  Text-tool: s. 

L’Arithmetica  ed  il  sistema  metrico  portato  a semplicita  per  le  classi  ele- 
mental, col  confronto  dei  pesi  e delle  misure  antiche  d’ltalia  in 
metrico-decimale.  7th  ed. 

La  Storia  d’ltalia  raccontata  alia  gioventii  da’  suoi  primi  abitatori  sino 
ai  nostri  giorni.  29th  ed. 

Maniera  facile  per  imparare  la  storia  sacra  ad  uso  del  popolo  cristiano. 
1910. 

I.  Writings  for  Special  Occasions. 

Il  piii  bel  fiore  del  Collegio  Apostolico,  ossia  l’elezione  di  Leone  con  breve 
biografia  dei  suoi  elettori. 

Rimembranza  di  una  solennita  in  onore  di  Maria  Ausiliatrice. 

Rimembranza  storico-funebre  dei  giovani  dell’Oratorio  di  S.  Francesco  di 
Sales  verso  al  sac.  Cafasso  Giuseppe,  loro  insigne  benefattore. 

II.  Works  on  Don  Bosco. 

A.  General. 

Bollettino  Salesiano,  Torino. 

Heimbuclier,  M.,  Die  Orden  und  Kongregationen  der  Katholisehen  Kirche. 
Bd.  3,  Paderborn,  1908. 

Herder’s  Lexicon  der  Padagogik,  herausgegeben  von  E.  M.  Roloff.  Bd.  1, 
Freiburg  i.  B.,  1913. 

Wetzer  und  Welte,  Kirchenlexicon,  Freiburg  i.  B.,  Bd.  10,  Artikel  Sale- 
sianer  by  H.  Weber. 

B.  Special. 

Alimonda,  Gaetano,  Giovanni  Bosco  e il  suo  secolo.  Torino. 

Barbaris,  G..  Il  Ven.  Don  Bosco  e le  opere  Salesiane.  Torino. 

Bonetti,  Giovanni,  Cinque  Lustri  di  storia  delPOratorio  Salesiano.  Torino, 
1892. 

Cerruti,  Francesco,  Le  idee  di  Don  Bosco.  Torino. 

Crispolti,  Vita  di  Don  Bosco.  Torino. 

G 


78 


D’Espinay,  Charles,  Don  Bosco.  Nizza,  1892. 

DuBois,  Albert,  Dorn  Bosco  et  la  pieuse  Society  Sal£sienne.  Paris,  1884. 
Eabre,  L’Oeuvre  de  Don  Bosco.  Xizza,  1901. 

Francesia,  G.  B.,  Vita  breve  e populare  di  Don  Giovanni  Bosco.  Torino, 
1902. 

Francesia,  G.  B.,  II  ven.  D.  Bosco  amico  delle  anime.  Torino,  1915. 
Francesia,  G.  B.,  Due  mesi  con  Don  Bosco  a Roma.  Torino. 

Giordano,  Domenico,  La  carita  nel  educare  ed  il  sistema  preventivo  del  piii 
grande  educatore  Don  Giovanni  Bosco.  Torino. 

Giordano,  Domenico,  La  gioventu  e Don  Bosco.  Torino. 

Huysmans,  I.  K.,  Esquisse  biographique  sur  Dom  Bosco.  Paris,  1902. 
Janssen,  Johannes,  Don  Bosco  und  das  Oratorium  vom  hi.  Franz  von 
Sales.  Steyl,  1885  (?). 

Lemoyne,  G.  B.,  Vita  di  Giovanni  Bosco.  Torino,  1913. 

Lemoyne,  G.  B.,  Scene  di  Famiglia  esposte  nella  vita  di  Margherita  Bosco. 
Torino,  1913. 

Mederlet,  Eugen,  Don  Bosco.  Muri,  Aargau,  1902. 

Meliler,  J.  B.,  Don  Boscos  soziale  Schopfungen.  Regensburg,  1893. 

Mehler,  J.  B.,  Don  Bosco  und  seine  salesianisclien  Werke.  Turin,  1905. 
Pine,  M.  S.,  A Sketch  of  the  life  and  work  of  the  Ven.  Don  Bosco.  Phila- 
delphia, 1916. 

Villefranche,  J.  M.,  Dom  Bosco.  Paris,  1888. 

C.  Articles. 

De  Lombel,  in  Etudes  iiographiques.  Paris,  1894. 

Von  Hammerstein,  L.,  in  Wmifried.  Trier,  1889,  108  ff. 

Die  Katholischen  Missionen,  1888,  113,  140. 

Mehler,  J.  B.,  Don  Bosco,  in  Regensburger  Marien-Kalendar  fiir  das  Jahr 
1889. 

Retry,  in  IJistoriscli-Politisclie  Blatter,  CXXXVIII,  850. 


Date  Due 

"PR  “C  ’W 

RPR  35%: 

.O-iro 

JUL  S3' 5| 

IP?'*- 

OCT -t»’59 

7T? 

f 

All 6 6 

JaOQi 

/ 

/ 

/ 

21120° 


Boston  College  Library 

Chestnut  Hill  67,  Mass. 


Books  may  be  kept  for  two  weeks  unless  a shorter 
time  is  specified. 

Two  cents  a day  is  charged  for  each  2-week  book 
kept  overtime;  25  cents  a day  for  each  overnight 
book. 


If  you  cannot  find  what  you  want,  inquire  at  the 


delivery  desk  for  assistance*  . 


